Kingdom Hearts: Journey of Discovery Final Mix
by DinoWriter23
Summary: Pulled away from their home world of Harthyn, Jason and Clair must travel across a universe that challenges everything they know in order to find their way home, not knowing the forces of darkness are working against them. Cover done by Flautist4ever
1. A New World

**Hey everyone. After a long hiatus, I'm proud to say that it's finally here. Kingdom Hearts: Journey of Discovery Final Mix. I want to give a special shoutout to everyone who had to endure all the notes and messages to get the story's plot right. This will not be the same as the previous story because some characters will not be appearing here due to the need to trim a large cast down. Also, I had to rethink which worlds would work, and which ones would not. I'm trying to go for quality over quantity this time around. Just because something's appeared in the games doesn't mean I HAVE to use it. Also, I won't be using worlds that are slated to appear in the future of the games. In other words,**

 **No Kingdom of Corona**

 **No San Fransokyo**

 **No Toy Story**

 **You get where I'm going with this, right?**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever and YamiChaos27 for helping to edit this, and for writing a portion.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. However, Jason Norman, Clair Fay, the world of Harthyn, and related characters and items are mine.**

* * *

Journey of Discovery Final Mix

Chapter 1: A Canceled Trip

CLAIR'S POV

I giggled as I floated outside of the space station. I still couldn't believe that I was chosen out of hundreds of other students to be a part of Professor Anton Yeller's space program. It was all exciting to think about, because if this station experiment worked, then not just Netokan, but the entire world of Harthyn would be one step closer to achieving space travel, the stuff of fiction up until now.

I was enjoying the sensation of weightlessness so much I failed to pay attention to my surroundings. I grunted in unison with my partner when I collided with him. "Clair, do you mind? I'm trying to work on making the adjustments Yeller sent us out here to make."

"Sorry. I'm just having fun, Jace." I said as I worked at sending myself up to where I was supposed to be working.

I could hear him sigh over our comms. "Clair, I know you're enjoying all this, but I'm trying to take this seriously. If the radar's not fixed, we won't be able to scan for a decent spot for the professor's next build. And for the record, don't call me Jace."

"A station over the moon Bruck." I nodded as I opened the panel. Turning on my holo-screen, I looked over the instructions I had been given, and began following them. "Just think, Jason. We're getting closer to developing craft that can cruise through space. We'll be able to find new planets to inhabit, and perhaps other life as well."

"And pretty soon, as Dad keeps telling me, we'll be having wars between planets."

"Professor Yeller says that this space program is a solution to end war. Different groups of people will be able to colonize different planets, and do as they want."

"Yeah, but will it work?"

His question made me pause. The Last War, as the war against the country of Moruga had been termed, was supposed to end conflict forever, but there were rumors circulating that the spirit of defiance had only been kindled. Even though the government was saying the entire planet had been united at last, there were those who were saying that different groups, different gangs even, were uniting. There had been three public facility attacks in the last month alone. They were getting bolder. Shaking my head, I decided to change the subject. "On a more positive note, our involvement with Professor Yeller's experiments will help to ensure our academic futures, and open many doors to possible careers."  
"Thanks for reminding me of who it was who sent me up here." His voice made me cringe. I hadn't meant to touch a sensitive spot, but I heard static when I tried to speak to him. He must've gone silent to me.

I made the last few adjustments, heard a click, and saw some blue lights turn on. "And done." I smiled as I closed the panel and the space station whirred as the adjustments took hold. Pressing a finger against my helmet, I contacted the professor while my holo-screen turned off. "Professor. We've finished our task out here."

"Good. Come back inside." Professor Yeller said, his voice being heard by me and Jason alike because he could override the radio silence one of us may have put ourselves into. Cough, Jason, cough. Holding on to the side of the station, I waited for my cousin to come back up so we could get back inside together.

He acknowledged me as he passed me, but didn't stop. Frowning at him for that disrespect, I began to follow him. But I couldn't stay mad. We just helped the next step for Harthyn's advancement. Future generations were going to remember this moment. Following my cousin, I thought there was no way the universe could destroy this moment.

I had no idea how wrong I was.

As we made our way to the entrance, the craziest thing happened. The space around us began to shake! Something that by all the laws of science should've been impossible was happening before us right now! Grabbing onto the side of the station, I clung to it like my life depended on it.

Jason also grabbed a hold of the station, and I got a feeling his eyes were just as wide as mine were. "A quake in space? That's impossible!"

"Well, it's happening right now, cousin." I told him as I did something I had never done. I began to pray to Gri for a miracle. I had never been religious, but I found myself making a promise that if we got out of this I would start looking into faith.

"Emergency lockdown initiated." The automated words from the station made my blood freeze like the cold emptiness of space had entered my veins. Jason and I stole a quick glance at each other before we hurried to the entrance, but it was too late. Alarms blaring, the only way we could get back into the station closed in front of us.

Fear took a hold of me as I began to pound on the sealed door. "No! Let us in! We're still out here! Professor Yeller? Santos? Anyone?"

"Communicators are down!" Jason said.

"Then how come we can still communicate?"

Neither of us had an answer for that, but we didn't have to worry about it for long. We both heard an earsplitting sound behind us, like a building was cracking and the world's largest flag was being ripped apart at the same time. A powerful suction, more powerful than the weightlessness of space, pulled both of us away from the station. Screaming like I had never screamed before, I found myself staring at something I would never forget.

There was just a large tear in front of us. It was like the area between the station and the planet had been a fragile antique vase, and someone had just punched a hole in it. Now we were being sucked towards that hole. The two of us tried to resist, but there was nothing we could do but get sucked inside that tear in reality.

Inside, I found myself blinded by a light that appeared to be hot and cold at the same time, before gravity turned back on. That was enough to make my skip a beat, but what I saw next threatened to make it stop completely. We were no longer in space, but heading straight towards the ground! I screamed again as the green grass came speeding towards us, before there was a big pain, and blackness.

* * *

Three Months Later…

I sighed in relief, taking in the beautiful day. It was nice to be able to find a place just outside the city where I could relax and take in the beauty of the world. Jason was right next to me as he had nothing better to do. But I didn't mind. It was nice to spend this moment with my family. I just wish my parents could be here. They would love this world.

Yes, I said world. It didn't take long, but it became obvious that we were no longer on Harthyn. We had crossed over into another world, just like in my books. According to our new friends, we were in a place called Radiant Garden. It didn't look like it lived up to its name, but it was still being repaired from when enemies had conquered the city. I sometimes helped out in the restoration process, but it was hard without the automated equipment that did the heavy lifting back home.

I stopped my meditation as I heard footsteps coming up. Look up, or behind, depending on your perspective, I saw Aerith standing over Jason and I. The cetra, as she said she was, still had her brown hair braided with a pink ribbon in it, and her green eyes were full of warmth, like the land was smiling through them. She also had on a pink and white top that was tied around her neck via a string, and two different dresses as well. One dress was pink with a horizontal white stripe near the bottom, and the other was pure white and slightly longer than the first. She also was wearing a pair of boots. "Oh, hi Aerith." I smiled.

"And here you two are." She said as she crouched down before us. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just enjoying the peace and quiet." I said as Jason sat up. "It's nice to be able to find a place away from the noises of the city. One of the advantages this world has over Harthyn."

"I take it you didn't come out here just to check on us." Jason was still as stern and serious as ever. He was wearing a red shirt he had gotten from the market, and a pair of jeans that now had a hole in them over his left knee. His brown hair had taken on a healthier complexion though, and his blue eyes seemed better than I remembered.

The cetra nodded, confirming his words. "Well, Cid just completed a successful test with Professor Yeller's teleportation device." She told us as she changed her position so she was now sitting. "He's making a few adjustments, but you two should be able to go home in a few hours."

"A few hours?" Jason sat up at that. "Best news I've had these last three months." With that he began to walk off back to the city.

Aerith watched him go before she noticed my reaction. "What's the matter? Aren't you glad to be going home?"

"I am." I told her faster than I intended. "It's just…" How do I explain this? I felt like I was being torn in half. Part of me wanted to stay and see what this world had to offer, but I missed my parents so much. Being unable to speak with them for months had been torture. This world could never be Netokan, and for some reason, I was okay with that. "…I've grown to like it here."

I waited for her to ask me how, but she didn't. I looked to see her waiting with more patience than I had seen anyone back home with to continue. After a few minutes of waiting, I continued with what else I had grown to love about being here. "Back home, books had gone out of existence. Everything is now read on the holo-screen, and people prefer that because of the interactive activities and motion pictures that come with them, but I never enjoyed that. I enjoyed turning the pages of the older books because I felt like I was part of the story. And not having pictures allowed me to create the landscapes, the cities, even the characters all in my mind.

"I would spend lots of my time in antique shops or online, trying to find books to read. Because of that, I got teased a lot by those who preferred to spend their time changing their DNA to match their idea of what was beautiful, or gossiping about other people, or having fantasies of being the girl of some actor or actress."

"I don't believe that's the entire reason." Aerith finally spoke.

Her words caused me to sigh. "You're right. One other reason why I don't want to go back is because this world has something Harthyn doesn't: magic."

"I've heard you've been having a hard time learning it."

I looked at the cetra at that. "Yes, I've been struggling with it, but at the same time, I love it. Something about it just draws me in. It's hard, but I feel a… something about myself when I'm pushing myself to get a spell right. It's hard to describe."

I looked to find Aerith smiling at me. "I think I understand. My people, the Cetra, gave up the luxuries of comfortable lives so we could be closer to the spirit of our world." Reaching out to a flower that was growing nearby. "Even amongst a field of flowers, I feel at peace with my choice because I can feel the life of the planet around me. And that makes me happy."

Her words struck a chord within me. "Wow, that's beautiful. Sometimes when you talk about the Cetra it makes me wish I could become one."

"Thanks." Aerith told me. "If you don't feel ready to go home yet, we'll speak with Professor Yeller. We'll see if we can work it so you can stay here and learn more. We'll even try to make it so your parents can use the teleportation device to come and visit you."

That brightened my spirits. "You will? Thank you, Aerith! I would love that very much."

* * *

?'s POV

Radiant Garden. Once hailed as the City of Light. Now it's just a wreck that the foolish inhabitants believe can be redeemed. Even I can see that this world is beyond redemption. Better to destroy it and find somewhere else to live.

The water dripped from loose pipes, creating puddles in the hallway. Guess their king felt like it was better to fix the town before the castle. Idiot. Guess he'll learn the error of his ways before long.

As I made my way forward I soon found what I was looking for: a large circular room with rows of shelves filled with books and scientific equipment. The walls had all sorts of equations scribbled on them. I found my target sitting behind a desk in the middle of the room tinkering with something. He was dressed in a white lab coat with a purple scarf around his neck. His blond hair was swept behind him and his golden eyes were focused on the task at hand when he realized he was no longer alone.

He stood when he saw me, but it wasn't fear in his eyes. It was determination. "Who are you, and how did you get in here?"

"Ansem the Wise." I ignored his question. "You have something I want."

"And what would that be?"

"Information on the Princesses of Heart."

"That information is beyond you. It will avail you nothing."

"Spare me the lecture, old man. Give me what I came for."

He stood tall. "Never."

I formed a Dark Fireball in my hand. "Wrong answer."

However before I could do anything, I sensed a presence behind me and I ended up using my fireball to block a Firaga spell. I looked at the caster. It was a man wearing a guard uniform. He had neck-length brown hair, blue eyes, and a scar running across his face. He also wore what looked like a chain necklace with some kind of silver lion on top of a cross, whatever that's supposed to be. And he carried a sword that oddly had a gun-like handle, revolver cylinder and trigger included.

"Squall!" the old man shouted.

The swordsman sighed. "I'm so used to being called Leon," I heard him muttered. I didn't know what that was about, but I didn't care. He then glared at me. "Look pal, I don't know who you are, but clearly you weren't invited to this castle. So I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Not until I get what I came for."

"Sorry, but I can't let you have classified information." Squall then pointed his...gunblade?...at me.

It was my turn to glare. "And I'm not about to let such small obstacles block my path." I then summoned my weapon.

Squall flinched slightly. "Is that...a Keyblade?" he asked.

"So you know about this?" I then shouldered my Vengeful Chaos Keyblade. "Then show me what you can do against it."

The man then charged at me, clashing his gunblade at my keyblade. I noticed a subtle gunpowder burst from the gun's chambers as the sword collided with mine. Must've been what the trigger was for.

I notice Ansem started to retreat to a wall, which opened to reveal a hidden room, but I couldn't focus on him.

After struggling to push me back, Squall leapt away and casted three more Firaga's from his palm. I merely blocked them with my Keyblade before slamming it onto the floor, creating a dark shockwave that knocked him back and blasted a way everything in the room. He then charged at me again and we started clashing weapon again and again. To be honest, he wasn't very challenging. I was just about ready to end it and stop wasting time.

He then raised his gunblade into the air and I could feel intense energy gather through it. Soon, the energy expanded the blade to twice its actual size. "Blasting Zone!" he called at he brought his sword down. Once again I merely blocked with my Keyblade. Admittedly the attack did take a little work to hold back, but not by much. Using my free hand, I casted a Dark Firaga, blasting him back and canceling his attack.

He was about to charge again when I decide to end this. "Enough!" I shouted as I began to charge a lot of darkness through Vengeful Chaos. "Dark Wave!" I unleashed the darkness in a massive burst, blasting Squall out of the room through the wall Ansem retreated through.


	2. The Journey Begins

**I do not own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Thanks for looking over the battle. I hope the other scene with Mortem was good. If not, I can go back and edit them.**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever for editing this chapter.**

* * *

Journey of Discovery Final Mix chapter 2

JASON'S POV

I couldn't believe it. I was so close to being back home, and the crowded marketplace was keeping me from getting there. For the love of Gri, why couldn't people hurry up? I couldn't see anything that would help people. The food was all weird and the clothes were out of fashion.

As soon as I saw a gap open up in the crowd I pushed my way through. " _Home. Soon I'll be back where I belong_." I thought to myself while I passed someone buying some strange fish. However, the next stall had three white birds with yellow bills and webbed feet selling some potions and stuff, and all three were in sweaters and caps that were different colors. I think they were supposed to be ducks. " _No talking animals. No weird magic stuff._ " I stopped as one of the moogles, some little white creature with purple wings and a balloon on its head passed in front of me. " _And none of that._ "

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little kid with someone that I assumed was their father. He was looking up at a statue of one of the heroes of this world with glee. "Daddy, can I be a hero when I grow up?"

"Of course you can. You can be whatever you want. Just work hard and follow your dreams."  
Those words stung. Clenching my fists, I turned and stormed off with a huff towards the castle. " _Dreams? What a waste of time._ " I thought to myself as I approached the castle entrance. " _Everyone knows you exist to fill a certain niche in life. Hopes, dreams, aspirations… all of them are nothing more than roadblocks and distractions. And people here seem to think they accomplish something_.

" _Well, I wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for my father. This is all his fault. When I get back home, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind, like I should've done weeks ago._ "

* * *

Four Months Ago…

My parents and I had just been eating breakfast like normal. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Dad was checking the news on his holo-screen while Mom was helping herself to some more energy drink. I was just trying to stomach this bland stuff that the government recently said was good for everyone to eat when the window became the giant holo-screen it did when news or a call came in. "Normans. Sorry to disturb your breakfast."  
Mom nearly choked on her drink. "Professor Anton Yeller? Why are you calling us?"

The elderly man adjusted his glasses before he answered. "Your son has been selected for the Herald Program with Yeller Sciences, which will be the world's first step into space exploration. His involvement will assure his placement into a future career regardless of the history of his family unit."

"Hear that son? Your future is now secure." Dad said as he looked at me, his black hair being spiked up like it normally was.

I glared at him. "No. I'm not interested in working for some geek."  
"Geek? Professor Anton Yeller is the greatest mind Harthyn has ever seen. To work for him is the opportunity of a lifetime." Mom said.

"My answer is still no."

Dad looked at the holo-screen. "Ignore him." Turning back to me, Dad's eyes narrowed. "This is not a debate, Jason. You have a rare opportunity to work for the most influential man in all creation. With his help, you have a chance to get recruited before you graduate. And you're going to take that chance. And I don't want to hear any arguing on your side. You're going, and that's final. Understand?"

When he gets like this, there's no way I can win against him. Never had, and never will. With a sigh, I looked back at my food. "Yes, sir." I muttered.

* * *

" _I knew going into space was a bad idea_." I thought to myself while I passed through the castle corridors. " _I knew it, but he still got me to go into space. Well, when I get him, I'm going to rub this into his smug face. I won't let him talk me into something like this again. Maybe I'll give him a knuckle-_."

A crash from up ahead interrupted my thoughts. It came from the study, where they were… oh no. Breaking into a run, I arrived into the study to find it a mess. Books were scattered everywhere, vialls were broken, and one of the guards, Leon, was on the ground. I ran over to him, looking over him. An arm and leg broken, and it looked as if he had been stabbed with something.

I then looked up to see the corridor leading to the computer room was open. Computer room. Where they were… oh, no! Getting up, I rushed through to find Ansem the Wise on the ground while some punk in black with red hair getting something from the massive, if primitive, computer. Behind them was the broken remains of the teleporter. "No!" I roared as I leapt at the punk. "What did you do? You destroyed my ticket home!"  
"Cry me a river." He said as he backhanded me. The room spun around me as I fell, over, my head complaining like it got hit by a monorail. Looking back at the punk, he finished what he was doing on the computer, and then caused a dark oval to emerge from the shadows.

With a growl, I got back up and tackled the punk to the ground, punching him in the kidneys as I did so. We fell to the ground where I moved to punch him again. However, I was then blasted back by something, crashing into the wall. As I slid down, I saw the punk get back up, and it seemed like the shadows were moving along his entire outline like a dancing black fire. It also seemed to be coming from his body.

His eyes narrowed at me. "You just made a grave mistake."

"So did you." I said as I got back up, holding my fists up.

"You're going to fight me with your fists? You really do have a death wish." With that, he summoned the strangest weapon I had ever seen, stranger than even Leon's gunblade. It looked like a giant red key wrapped with chains in a criss-cross manner.

I ended up laughing. "You're going to fight with a giant key?"  
"It's a Keyblade, and it's no laughing matter." He growled as he charged at me. He swung at me and I tried to duck, but that thing was faster than I anticipated. It ended up catching the back of my shirt and jerked me back. I tried to hammer drop the guy with the momentum from the Keyblade thing, but the punk caught me with his free hand. He didn't crush it, but his grip was iron. I realized I was out of my league in this fight. He was a disciplined, seasoned fighter, and I could see in his eyes he was not above killing.

With surprising strength he flipped me over his head, throwing me against the opposing wall. "Pathetic. Just pathetic." He said as he came towards me. "Last chance: stand down."

I responded by throwing another punch, but he sidestepped me before tripping me. I managed to look behind me to see him raise his weapon, his Keyblade, up to impale me. I rolled over because if I was going to die, I would not hide. Not that I was in any hurry to die, but I refused to die a coward. If anything I was going to give him a reason to respect me.

The next few minutes, I still cannot recall what happened. One moment the weapon was coming to impale my heart, and then the next he was on the ground after a bright flash, but that didn't surprise me.

What surprised me was that after that light I now held a weapon similar to the one the creep had, except it was different in every sense of the word. The blade was long and black, and the teeth of the key I swear was designed to look like a fist. And the keychain at the end was a boxing glove. "What in Gri's name is this thing?" I asked.

"You have a Keyblade?" The guy asked. "This has to be a mistake. There's no way you could be chosen for such an honor. That thing has to be flawed."  
I rose an eyebrow. "You're talking about these chunks of metal like they're alive."  
"I rest my case." With that, he charged at me, but my weapon seemed to fly up on its own. I don't know how to describe it, but it was like on autopilot. How was that possible? It was defying all known logic. The punk didn't give me time to think about it as he slashed and jabbed again.

Since my new weapon was in my left hand, I felt extreme awkwardness because I used my fists for every fight up until now. Time to adjust I guess. I swung my Keyblade around, blocking his latest slash. I tried to knee him, but he brought his fist down. I cried out in pain as he made my knee move further right than it was supposed to, and then he kicked me back.

"I tire of this." He said as he raised his Keyblade up, and it transformed right in front of my eyes. Now he had a bazooka on his shoulder, with the same red and black color scheme his Keyblade had. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of it. As he pulled the trigger, I tried to roll out of the way. However, there was a burst of darkness from that thing, pain, and then nothing.

* * *

"Jason? Jason!" I heard someone call my name as I opened my eyes to find Clair leaning over me. Groaning, I raised my head to see Ansem the Wise sitting against his computer while Aerith looked over him. Pain racked through my body as I tried to sit up, and Clair put her hand on my shoulder. "Not so fast."

"Where's… that…?" I tried to ask but it hurt to talk.

"Gone. Along with the data he sought." Ansem told us. "Mortem managed to crack through all the layers of firewalls and encryptions Tron and I placed around that data."

"Mortem?" Clair asked.

I looked at her. "Punk who… destroyed…"

"It'll take months to build another." The scientist king told us. "I am sorry."

"What bothers me is that Mortem could use a Keyblade." Leon said as he walked in.

"Keyblade?"  
"Like… gunblade… except… giant key…" I said. "Fought him…" Clenching my fist, I managed to pound it against the ground in my anger. "Mortem… will… pay." Then, in an instant, my Keyblade, the _Born Fighter_ as the name seemed to come into my head, appeared in my hand, making my cousin jump into the air while everyone else was shocked to see it.

"What in Gri's name is that?" Clair asked me with a hand over her heart.

Leon answered with his own question. "How long could you use a Keyblade?"

"Now…" It was hurting too much to talk.

Aerith looked at her king and friend. "This changes things."

With a nod, Ansem looked at us. "There is much you need to know."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

I exited the dark corridor into the base where the others were supposed to rejoin me, but I wasn't holding my breath. I didn't like them the second I saw them, and I wasn't disappointed to see that they were not here. I moved through the different aisles trying to find the one who acted like he was in charge, but that did not give him my respect.

"Did you get it?" I heard him ask from behind me. I turned, but to my surprise there was a robot waiting for me. "My little friend will take the data from you."

Holding the circular drive thing I had used to extract the data from Ansem's computer, I gave it to the robot. A chamber opened up and the drive was inserted, causing its eyes to light up and a series of beeps to be made. "What does that mean?"

"Your mission was a success. Tell me, did you also destroy the Alternate Reality Transporter?"

I scoffed at that. "Yeah, but I still don't get why you had me trash that piece of junk."

"It wasn't a piece of junk! It was an incredible leap forward in the name of science. As for why it had to be destroyed, it was necessary for my plans. Now they have a reason to leave Radiant Garden. You."

I glared at the robot for that. "You're using me as bait?"

"No. A motivation."

"Whatever. I just want to know how this data helps me get my memories back."

A holographic screen appeared in the air in front of me, projected from the chest of the robot. From it appeared the images of seven maidens, which took me by surprise. "The data that has been analyzed shows that there are seven hearts of pure light scattered throughout this… multiverse, as I prefer to make sense of this data. And when gathered together, they produce tremendous power. It stands to reason that if you were to collect all seven hearts, then you would have the power to restore your memories."

I couldn't help but think that he seemed to go through all that data faster than I thought was possible, but maybe the robot helped him. At any rate, I now knew what I had to do to restore my memories. "Where will I find them?"

"Take this device." The man's voice said as the robot produced another of the circular drives, just small enough to fit into my pocket and be usable. "As the data becomes translated and broken down, you will receive the locations of the hearts, and all you need to know about the worlds they are located on."

I scoffed at that. "Whatever. Just as long as I don't have to spend years searching."

"I will send others to assist you when the need arises."

"I do not need help. I can do this on my own."  
"Don't forget, Mortem,"

"No, you don't forget. I work with you, not for you. I'm not some minion you can order around. I tolerate you and the others because you saved me from oblivion, but do not test me. Our interests are aligned for now, but as soon as I have what I want, I am parting ways with you and your group."

There was several minutes worth of silence. Finally, he spoke again. "Very well. Do as you wish. You'll find the information about the first heart's location in your holo-screen."

So that's what this thing was called. With the push of a button, I activated the blue light screen that I could interact with, and used it to study up on the world I was about to head to. Pocketing it once I was done, I opened another corridor of darkness and entered it, ready to claim the heart and retrieve my memories.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I couldn't believe it. Aerith had healed everyone by now, and had helped me to do it as well. IT felt good to help someone heal from their wounds. However, everyone was taking the matter of Jason using a Keyblade like it was a factor that could change the fabric of reality itself. Okay maybe not to that extreme, but it felt like that this was a bigger deal than I would've thought. I was feeling a little nervous from all this.

Right now, Ansem was at the huge computer he had, pulling up and organizing the data to try and make it into some sort of presentation. I felt like we were back at school for a moment, but thinking that was a mistake because that made me look at the ruined machine. Our way home, gone. Was this because of me? Was Gri punishing us because I had wanted to stay here?

"Ah, here we are." Ansem said as he finished. Turning to us, he explained, "What you are about to learn is a secret you must guard with your lives. No matter what, you must not divulge the information you are about to learn. In the wrong hands, this knowledge can bring chaos and ruin to all."

I nodded. "I understand."

"Whatever." Jason said.

Pressing a button, a diagram showing lots of circles and equations appeared before us, and a Keyblade in the middle. "Before you is a sketch of the Keyblade. For years it was regarded as a weapon of myth and legend, but now we know for a fact it exists. To fully understand its potential you will have to know of the history behind it.

"Long ago, it is said that all people used to be one, bathed in the glorious light that was shared by all. As time passed, some tried to take the light for themselves, and created darkness. A war broke out that resulted in the apocalypse.

"Before you can ask why we are here, it was in that moment that seven lights which had survived the destruction worked to rebuild what had been destroyed. To prevent such a cataclysm from occurring again, they buried the light deep within the new world they had created, and divided the world into the present universe we have today."

Jason yawned. "Yeah, real interesting. But what does this have to do with us?"

The scientist king frowned at him before he answered, "It was during that war that the Keyblade came into existence. The legends surrounding it vary in description, but from what I've pieced together it appears that there were those who tried to use the Keyblade to take the light, while the others were made to protect it. So, like those who bear them, these weapons can either be a force of good or evil for Kingdom Hearts."

I raised my hand. "Excuse me, sir, but what is Kingdom Hearts?"

"It is the light I spoke of." Was the answer I got. "It is the source of all light in existence, and what allows everything to exist. We are all connected to the power within Kingdom Hearts, and if it were to fall, so would every world out there."  
"Wait. You mean there are more besides Harthyn and Radiant Garden?" Jason asked. "How many more are out there?"

"We haven't been able to document every world out there." Cid said. "It's been an ongoing investigation. Near as we can figure, there are as many worlds as there are stars in the sky."

I gasped. "That means there could be limitless worlds out there."

"Exactly." Ansem said. "Your world is a new world for our records, evidence of an ever growing multiverse. Keep in mind that another world is not the same thing as another planet, because a planet is part of a world that requires a means of traveling a great distance to reach them. A world is another existence that can either be achieved by advance science, complex magic, or a combination of the two.

"Not long ago, I began studying the heart and its potential. My research brought chaos to several worlds, and it was only because of a boy chosen by the Keyblade that the madness was stopped and countless lives saved. Only now there is the matter of this Mortem, and the fact that you can now use a Keyblade, Jason Norman."

My cousin just scoffed at all this. "Real fancy work, doc, but I couldn't care less. I want to find this Mortem jerk and knock his lights out for ruining my chance to get home."

"Jason." I glared at him, but he ignored me.

Leon answered for Ansem. "If a Keyblade chose you to be its bearer, then it must mean something's coming. Mortem has the powers of darkness, and was able to beat me with ease. You didn't even leave a mark on him from what I've heard."

Jason got up, looking like he was ready to fight, but Merlin stopped him. "Now, young man, if you go rushing headfirst into things, you won't ever get anything done. There's a reason we have brains in our heads instead of rocks."

"Besides, with the Keyblade, you have the power to travel to other worlds." Aerith said.

That got Jason's attention. "I can? Why didn't you say so?" He held out his hand, but nothing came to it. He made a few gestures with his hand, but nothing happened. Frowning, he tried again, with the same result. "Darn it!" He cursed, clenching his fist. We all jumped when his Keyblade came flying into his hand. "Finally. So how do I make it take me home?"

"It's not that simple." Merlin said. "The Keyblade is a divining rod of sorts. From what I've seen, it takes you to where you need to be."

"Before you throw another tantrum, hear us out. If Mortem's part of a larger threat, then it's your responsibility to find it and stop it because if left unchecked it might end up coming to your world as well. If you find it and stop it now, you may end up saving Harthyn from danger." Leon said.

"And this could be connected to the Spatial Tremor which brought you here." Ansem added.

Aerith looked at him when he said that. "I thought it was just a world wide earthquake."

"No. It was not. The event which brought them to our world happened in space, as they claim. I have checked with some of our friends on other worlds, and they also experienced tremors as well. Whatever happened was not confined to our two worlds."

"Are you saying the brat might be tied in to the Spatial Tremor thing?" Cid asked.

"I'm saying the two might be connected." Looking at us, the scientist king asked, "I know this is not what you've wanted, but I ask you to follow the Keyblade where it takes you. Try to unravel the mystery behind the Spatial Tremor and Mortem, and stop whatever threats may be rising out there."

Looking down, I thought about what I had learned. Parallel worlds? Forces of darkness? This was like something I would've read in one of my books. I was excited and terrified at the same time. I wanted to go on this adventure, but I was worried about what we might encounter. But then, if Jason got better with his new weapon, we might be able to get home. And in the meantime, I could probably learn more about magic and get ideas for a book. "Please, Jason. This is a chance for you to get stronger to beat Mortem."

"Even if I said yes, how would we find him? He could be anywhere in this multiverse." Jason pointed out to us.

The old wizard smiled. "Oh, I know how to fix that problem."

* * *

"What an incredible piece of junk!" Jason said as we arrived at a special part of the castle. There were all sorts of tools and equipment scattered about, and vehicles parked in odd locations. In the center of it all was a bright yellow and red spacecraft of some sort. It looked a little like something you'd find in a child's playset.

"Junk? I'll have ye know that this is the most advanced Gummi Ship to exist!" An annoyed voice with a strong accent said. I turned to see a duck in a top hat and a blue coat with a cane marching towards us with an offended look on his face.

Merlin walked over to the duck. "It's okay, Scrooge. He's got more muscles than brains."

"You mean these two are the ones you want flying my Gummi ship?" The duck, Scrooge, asked.

THe wizard nodded. "Yes. They need it to track down someone who could be a threat to many worlds."

"You expect me to say yes to allowing teenagers to pilot the most advance Gummi Ship in existence just to stop a possible threat?"

"You remember how much chaos Xehanort caused, and he was alone too. Until he made his Organization. We can't risk something like that happening again. Besides, we've contacted Sora. He'll be along as soon as he can."

"Sora?" The duck's demeanour changed to a more positive one. "Well, then. We'd better get a move on. Don't want to be late."  
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who says you're coming?" Jason asked.

"My ship. My rules. I'm coming." The duck told him. "Besides, I'm not letting a lad and a lass pilot an incredibly sophisticated vehicle without adult supervision. I built it, I own it, I decide who uses it. Either ye go with me or ye find another Gummi."

I looked at Merlin, hoping he could help us. He had influence. He should be able to convince this duck otherwise…

"Fair and reasonable terms, Scrooge."

"What?" Jason and I asked at the same time.

The wizard looked at us. "Scrooge McDuck is a valuable ally. He is a seasoned adventurer and well-versed in business matters. He can teach you many things. Besides, he is right. This Gummi is his, and he has every right to deny you if he chooses. He's made his terms and it is up to you to accept them or not."

My cousin sighed as he looked at the duck. "How long until we can depart?"

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed. I wanted to give thanks to TruthoutrunstheFiction for her idea on how to use Scrooge McDuck.**

 **Oh, for those who want to see what happens after Lost and Alone, that story will be going up soon. It will be under JoD: Road to Recovery, and will feature the cast from before.**


	3. Arriving in Agrabah

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

 **Jason and Clair are mine.**

* * *

Chapter 3

CLAIR'S POV

Looking out the window of Scrooge's ship, I found myself staring in awe at the sights I now beheld. It was so beautiful, seeing the space that existed in between worlds. It was like the photos of outer space that I saw images of in school, except the sky was different colors, like red and green and yellow instead of black, and I could still see the light of the stars. It was like the space in between was just like regular space. I couldn't wait to explore all this.

"Jace, you've got to see this." I told my cousin as I looked back, seeing him seated in the chair he claimed for himself.

"You know I hate that name." He told me without so much as a glance my way.

That filled me with sadness as he looked at him. He wasn't even trying to enjoy the adventure we found ourselves on. We had the opportunity of a lifetime, exploring something that until now science would've laughed at.

Turning away from the window, I resumed sitting in my seat. "Can't you at least try to enjoy this, Jason?"  
"How can I? We're out here in a spacecraft being piloted by an old duck while the person who destroyed our ticket home is out there doing who-knows-what."

"Oh, she's right, lad." Scrooge said. "You may as well take in the sights. It will make a lasting first impression."

That made me think of something I've been meaning to ask him. "Scrooge? How did you find out about other worlds? Didn't come from somewhere else?"  
"Oh, yes. I came from Disney Town. There, I was successful businessman, but things had been getting too easy for my taste. That was when I met Merlin, who offered to take me to a world where I could do more business. Now I'm making money on two worlds." That last statement made the old duck chuckle.

My cousin then turned to look Scrooge. "So that's it? You came to other worlds to make money?"

"Well, of course. I'm not about to turn down what could be a successful venture. Not to mention it sounded like a grand adventure. You should know, when I was your age I was quite the explorer. I solved countless mysteries and rewrote history so many times they had to revise several textbooks fives times in one year. And I did it all by being smarter than the smarties and tougher than the toughies."

I found that pretty impressive. It sounded like that Scrooge was a veteran when it came to adventures, and could make sure we got the supplies we needed at a good price. Maybe it was a good thing we agreed to his terms.

With a sigh, Jason went over to the window and began looking at the sights. He didn't say anything, but I could tell my cousin was enjoying the sights. It was more breathtaking than I had imagined, and it was making its impression on him. That was, until he tensed up. "Vessels incoming on starboard side."

That caused me to take a look through the window he was looking through, and gasped at what I saw. There were several ships coming towards us that looked like torpedos, except they had helicopter blades on the sides that were strange to look at. Also, the heads of the torpedoes that these heart insignias on them that were also crossed out. "What are those?"

"Heartless!" Scrooge said as he looked at us. "Get to the controls. Fire the lasers. There. By your seats!"

Looking I saw some sort of control appear that hadn't been there before. Sitting down, I found my seat moving forward to be closer to the controls. Taking them, I saw a targeting system appear before me on the window, which surprised me. As soon as the first Heartless appeared, I pulled the trigger on my control. My shot was way off target, didn't even hit the Heartless.

"Clair. Focus. Wait until they're in your marker." Jason told me. I heard him click and the lasers fire. There were explosions behind me, so I assumed that meant he got the things. The elder duck was laughing so hard as he piloted the ship through the space around us, maneuvering between the Heartless like he had done this many times. That just made it harder for me to concentrate on shooting the Heartless things.

I could hear Jason clicking away behind me with so much fury. I forgot he could be good at video games when he wanted to though Uncle Kendall usually only tolerated shooter games or military strategy games. Guess all the practice at the simulators was now paying off. If only I could hit one of those things.

That was when I saw something strange outside. It looked like there were floating ruins all around us. Raising an eyebrow, I stopped pressing the trigger to look at them. "Huh? What?"

"Why are there ruins in space?" Jason asked as he stopped firing for a second. That moment of hesitation caused the ship to jerk around and throw us out of our seats.

With a groan, Scrooge pulled himself back to the controls. "Focus on the Heartless. If they get through to another world it'll spell disaster."

I wasn't sure why that was, but I had a feeling it wasn't a good idea to argue with him. Something about torpedo-shaped monsters creeped me out. Getting back into my seat, Jason and I resumed firing at those things. I could tell he was hitting the ones that came in range due to the explosions, while I kept on missing them. This strategy wasn't working. If I didn't do something the ones I was missing were going to hit us. But what could I do?

What a minute. There was something about that particular pillar and wall. Maybe, just maybe, if I hit it… waiting for it to come in range, I pressed the trigger and shot at the structure. Direct hit! With a crack and a rumble the structure fell over on the Torpedo Heads. Hey, I didn't know what to call them. The point was the blast managed to make the structure fall over, crushing the Heartless things by the weight of them.

Then we were engulfed by a flash of light and we then found ourselves hovering over a world. It looked like it was a huge desert with a city in the middle, with ruins strewn all around it. What in the world? This defied all logic I had learned in school about how the world worked.

"Ah, here we are. Agrabah." Scrooge said as he got up. "Donald's told me all about this place. It'll be a nice start to creating a multi-world business empire."

"Not so fast." Jason said as he forced Scrooge back to his seat. "Those things out there. What are they, and how do you know about them?"

"Now, come lad. You don't think…"  
"Don't tell me what I think. You knew what they were, and didn't bother to warn us. Now spill. What are they?"  
"Please, Mr. McDuck." I said. "If we're going to run into them, we need to know what we're dealing with."

With a sigh, he looked at us. "You're right about that, lass. The creatures we just faced are called Heartless. They're creatures that come into existence when a person surrenders to the darkness within their hearts. Anger, jealousy, greed. All those are examples of what can lure the Heartless to a person."

"Wait. Did you say they are attracted to people?" I asked him.

"Aye, lass. I did. That is why a Heartless exists. They look for the darkness in the hearts of other beings, and if the darkness is strong in the heart of the individual, they consume it."

I gasped at that. "What?!"

"Those things are man-eaters?" Jason asked as he looked out.

"Yes and no." The duck said. "A man-eater implies that it eats your flesh. When a Heartless swallows a heart, they consume a person's essence, their being, everything that makes someone who they are. In their place comes another of the Heartless. That's how they come into being, and their whole purpose is to make more of them."

Jason and I looked at each other. This had gotten a whole lot scarier than I thought it would, with what sounded like the threat of demons from some Gri-forsaken netherworld that could make us suffer a fate worse than death. Maybe this wasn't a good thing to be doing after all.

"And you expect us to just waltz out there with no training and fight these things?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, of course. You've got a Keyblade, and that is the only thing that can vanquish the Heartless. They fear the Keyblade above all things. Besides, Heartless sightings have been down ever since Xehanort was defeated. You'll both be fine. Now, let us press on. We've got new places to explore."

As Scrooge prepared to beam us down I thought about it all. It was a scary thing to think about, facing monsters that could destroy everything I was just by taking my heart. It had seemed like a great fantasy adventure like I used to read about, but now I was filled with fear. And I thought the liftoff in the space program had been scary…

* * *

Four months ago…

I gulped with reservation as our spacecraft entered the final preparations for us to liftoff. This was the biggest moment of my life, of all of Harthyn's history because we were about to enter the age of space exploration. There were eleven others the shuttle to the Yeller Space Station, the base of operations for the Herald Program, all chatting away with each other about their interests and lives. I wished I could access the books I brought with me, but they were in my bag and inaccessible to me while we prepared to liftoff. I couldn't even reach the holo-screen in my pocket.

"Oh, would you look at that? Mrs. Relic doesn't have a book in her face." One of the girls teased me. I knew her as one of the popular kids in school who got the best grades, so I suppose it was a no brainer that she would be a part of the program. But her words earned the attention of the other flyers.

"What's the matter? Afraid of facing the real world?"  
"Why are you here? Yeller must be mad to allow a natural born into this program."

"Go back home. Let the real people do this work, not someone who's skills were left to chance by their parents."

The usual things they said to me. Things I had gotten used to. It was part of my life. Why should their words hurt any less than they have before? It wasn't like anything was ever done to stop it.

"Hey." I heard Jason say from the other side of the shuttle. With a clamor rising up from the other side, I saw him getting out of his seat and climbing over everyone who was seated between me and him with no effort to be gentle on them. Arriving next to me, he pushed the person who was seated next to me out of his seat and took it for himself. "Find your own seat. And can it about what she likes."

"Or what?" One of the other boys asked him.

"Or I'll chuck you out the airlock when we take off."

"Attention everyone. Please take your seats and keep yourselves strapped in. Liftoff will commence in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two one, ignition." While the countdown was going on everyone scrambled to a seat and made sure their harnesses were secured.

When the roar of the engines started, I screamed. I admit it. It was loud, like someone had opened the gates of the underworld and let loose all manner of monsters, and when I realized we were leaving the atmosphere, the terror was more than anything I had felt before.

* * *

Present day…

I didn't want to be kept in the dark about things like that again.

I was then blinded by a bright light. When I opened them, we were no longer on the Gummi ship but in the middle of what appeared to be some sort of marketplace or bazaar. There were open stalls selling fish, fruit, rugs, cloth, pretty much everything. Just like an old-fashioned mall.

"What the…?" Jason asked. Looking at him, I had to do a double take because his outfit had changed. Now he was dressed in some sort of red tunic with baggy blue pants that seemed to be in style here. Raising his foot as if to remove a pebble, I saw he was now wearing sandals. Looking at me, he said, "You've changed too."

"What?" Looking at myself I realized the same thing had happened to me. I was now wearing a purple tunic with blue baggy pants. My shoes had been changed to pointed ones that curled at the tip for some odd reason. I also had some sort of metal belt on, either gold or brass. I could tell. I also had bracers on that were similar to my belt. "Guess this is what Merlin meant."

* * *

Yesterday…

"Now remember, when traveling to other worlds you must not let anyone know that other worlds exist apart from their own." Merlin was instructing us.

I raised my hand. "Why is that, sir?"

"Because the last time it happened it brought chaos and disorder." The wizard answered. "That is why it is now one of the most guarded secrets in existence."

"Hate to rain on your parade, but that might not be as easy as you say." Jason said. "For starters, our clothes will be a dead giveaway we're not locals."

The wizard stroked his beard as he thought about it. "You have a point there." Raising his rod, he said some words I couldn't understand, and some swirling pink smoke encircled us before it vanished. "Right. That spell will help you two to blend in with a world's populace."  
"But what about the language?" Jason asked. "It won't do us any good if we can't even communicate with others."  
"I don't think we have to worry about that." When he gave me a blank stare I continued, "Haven't you noticed? We haven't been speaking Grochi. We've been speaking the languages of this world. That's how we were able to understand everyone."  
Raising an eyebrow, he looked at me. "How do you know?"

"I tried reading some of the books here, only to find I couldn't. The words, the letters, they're nothing like what I've seen before."

Merlin smiled at my answer. "Yes. You've learned another secret of the universe. When a person travels from one world to another, they find communication is not a problem. They end up speaking the native language of the world, but in their minds they hear what they first learned to speak in. This phenomenon has been termed by travelers like myself as the Universal Tongue. Now, I believe that takes care of your concerns about…"

"What about finances? Will the currency be the same everywhere, despite my suspicions no?" Jason asked.

Adjusting his glasses, Merlin looked at my cousin. "No. Currency isn't the same everywhere, but you do not have to worry. The coins you now carry are referred to as munny. It is magical currency that changes and adapts to whatever system the locals of any given world use."

* * *

Present…

"Now it makes sense on how we're going to blend in." I said as I checked out my new clothes. I had to admit, I felt a little embarrassed wearing it, but at the same time I found myself liking it. I never had a fashion sense before, but something told me that if I didn't watch myself, Merlin's spell would end up changing that.

Jason looked over himself, but he didn't look as pleased with the change as I was. Turning back to Scrooge, he asked, "So why didn't you have Merlin cast the spell on you as well?"

"Look at me, lad." Was the answer. "Do you think any amount of magic would end up changing the fact that I am a duck? I've spoken to me nephew, and I've decided that I will not hide who I am. Besides, the mystery of the Spatial Tremor is your mission, not mine."

"A mystery?" With a poof, we then found ourselves accompanied by four teenagers dressed in strange clothes that did not match up with the fashion sense I was seeing around me. "Jinkies." One dressed in an orange sweater with a red skirt said. One thing I noticed about all of them was they had blue skin, and pointed ears.

"Right when we have one mystery." One with a white shirt and jeans added while looking at Jason and I.

One who had a green shirt with red pants looked at Scrooge scratching his head. "Zoinks. Check out this crazy duck. Dressed all fancy like a millionaire."

"Quadzillionaire." Scrooge corrected him. "And for the record, I am not just any duck. I'm Scrooge McDuck, uncle to Donald Duck, who I believe you know."  
"Donald Duck?!" All four of them said with so much shock and amazement that it attracted the attention of the people in the marketplace. Then the craziest thing happened. All four of the blue skinned teenagers then pulled themselves together and in a puff of smoke were replaced by a big blue figure with a huge body wearing a red sash as a belt with pants as blue as his skin and golden shoes like mine. He had little hair on his head, but big sideburns that joined in a goatee on his chin. "Oh, I can't believe it. We're finally getting visited by the family and friends of that brave mallard."

"Genie!" A guard in a turban with a black vest and similar trousers that were tan or beige, I couldn't tell, said as he came up. I noticed he was missing a tooth. "Are you causing trouble again?"

"Oh, no, Razoul. I just found that we're being visited by Donald Duck's Uncle Scrooge, and his friends."

The guard, Razoul, scrutinized us before turning back to the Genie. "I doubt that. Ever consider that they could be frauds?"

"Hey, I may not know Donald, but nobody calls me a fake!" Jason growled at the guard.

"And I'll have you know this lad can use a Keyblade, just like Sora." The elderly duck added with a frown.

"Really?" Razoul's voice made it clear he did not believe us. "Then, he should be going after the Heartless that you should've been taking care of in the absence of Sora."

"Heartless?" I asked. "Here?"

A series of crashes and screams answered my question, causing us to look in the direction that they came from. Looking past the people running, I saw about six creatures coming our way. Four of them were black and purples, with reddish vests and huge turbans that covered most of their heads except for their yellow eyes, and they each brandished a huge scimitar. The last two were bigger than we were, with round bodies and orange vests that did nothing to cover their chests. They also had turbans on, but I noticed all six of them had the heart insignia we saw on the ones in space.

"Bandits and Fat Bandits." Scrooge said as he cracked his joints as if he anticipated a fight. "Genie, you and Razoul keep the civilians out of harm's way. We'll take care of the Heartless." Before anyone could protest Scrooge dragged us over to the Heartless, who looked at us as if unsure of what to make of us. "All right. Now let's show these pests what we're made of."

"What?" I asked as the first of the Bandits leapt at us. We all dodged to the side while the others came towards us, swinging their scimitars. Holding up his cane, Scrooge began to parry the blows of one of the Bandits like he had done this all his life.

I had to scootch back with a cry as another Bandit brought its sword down right between my legs. Any higher and it would've cut right through me. Before it could strike again, a long metal blade with a fist at the end appeared through its chest. The monster dissolved in wisps of darkness, like smoke, except a crystal shaped like a heart floated up. I saw Jason had saved me, but he turned and began to attack one of the other Bandits.

One of the Fat Bandits lumbered toward me, moving with surprising speed for something with its build. I began running through the spells I had been studying briefly. Why couldn't I think of something good? Recalling one called the Plasma Bolt, I focused on gathering the energy needed in the palms of my hands. Then, I fired it at the Heartless only for it to do nothing against its big belly. The Heartless paused, scratching its head as it looked at me.

My heart sunk. My spell did nothing? I think I was in trouble. The Fat Bandit then breathed onto one of its fists, covering it in fire. Before I could react, the Fat Bandit then punched me in the face, throwing me into a cart full of melons. Fruit split around me, covering me in juice and seeds in addition to splinters, making me groan in humiliation and some pain. Pulling the shell of a melon of my head, I saw the Fat Bandit lumbering towards me for another blow.

"Clair!" Jason called when he saw what happened to me. Jabbing the Bandit twice before slicing it in a motion that destroyed it and released the heart, my cousin ran towards me yelling out as he held his Keyblade. The Fat Bandit turned to him, only for Jason to slice it with his Keyblade. However, his weapon ended up bouncing off the belly of the Heartless, just like my spell had done. He seemed surprised before his eyes widened. "Hit it from behind! Its front is protected." He told me before leaping back from one of the fire punches of this thing.

He's right. That was why my spell didn't work. I needed something cold to take of this Heartless, but how did that go? Wait. Now I remember. Aerith told me that in order to make a spell work I had to see it working in my mind, but more important was I had to believe it would work. Come on, girl. Stop doubting yourself. You've been getting better at this. You can do this. Taking a breath, I imagined the effect I wanted the spell to have before I cast it. "Blizzard!"

As the spell flew from my hand, it hit the Fat Bandit from behind, encasing it in ice so it ended up looking like a sculpture. Ducking behind, Jason jabbed and sliced before it shattered and vanished in the wisps, releasing the crystal heart. I gasped as I looked at my hands, cheering for myself. I did it! I did it! I casted a successful Blizzard spell!

Looking at the next Fat Bandit with a knowing smile, I decided to put my newfound confidence to use. Focusing my energy into the spell, I cast the Blizzard spell again, freezing the ground underneath the Fat Bandit and making it slip and fall over on its belly. It ended up spinning around in a way that caused me to end up facing its butt, but I didn't care. Picturing the next spell in my mind, I cast the third spell I had learned. "Thunder!" The lightning came down from the clear sky, how I am not sure, and hit the Heartless, electrocuting it. I then cast my fourth spell, the Plasma Bolt, again and hit the monster, finishing it off. I was feeling good about it.

Jason was wrapping up with the other Bandit while Scrooge was still fending it off with his cane.

Focusing myself, I decided to cast one last spell. "Fire!" The fireball flew from my hands and raced towards Scrooge and the Bandit, hitting the Heartless and making it vanish while the crystal heart flew up into the sky. Jason jabbed and sliced, finishing off the last Heartless. Whoa. Now I was feeling really drained, and ended up collapsing on the ground.

The old duck then came over to me, handing me a vial of something. "Here. Drink this. It will restore your magic."  
With a grateful nod, I took it, and using what energy I could muster, I began to drink. As the liquid entered my body, I could feel myself being rejuvenated. I could feel the energy coming back to me as I remembered the caution that my magic was limited still, and I couldn't cast spells indefinitely.

In a poof I then found myself in a chair all bandaged up, the splinters and pain from the battle gone as well. "Now young lady, if you can't play nice with the other children I'll have to send you to the principal's office." Genie told me as he appeared in a nurse's outfit. "Now, let's get those bandages off and send you back to class." As Genie took the bandages off my arms I saw the scratches and splinters were all gone. Come to think of it, I no longer felt sticky. Was I clean now as well?  
"Hah!" Scrooge gave Razoul a smug look. "I told you this lad could use a Keyblade. Now do you believe that we're legit?"

With a frown, the guard looked at us. "Very well. I shall take you to see the Sultan. He will settle the matter."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed that. It was difficult to do. It was thanks to AquaDestiniesEmbrace that I was able to get an idea of how to continue. Thank you AquaDestiniesEmbrace.**  
 **And yes, I did have Genie turn into Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy. I wanted to try to try and do something that Genie would do. Even watching the Genie outtakes on the special features of Aladdin it's difficult to think of what the Genie would do.**


	4. Warnings and Fun

**So sorry this took so long to do. I kept hitting writer's block, and I kept getting distracted by other things.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

 **Braxten and Eini belong to Flautist4ever.**

 **Special thanks to AquaDestiniesEmbrace for helping me write this, Flautist4ever for helping with editing and brainstorming, and YamiChaos27 for helping set up the next chapter.**

* * *

Journey of Discovery Final Mix Chapter 4

JASON'S POV

Agrabah...

Genie and the guard, Razoul I think he was called, led us through the crowded streets of Agrabah towards the massive palace. I still couldn't believe how big the building was, the minarets alone could rival some of the skyscrapers back back home with their size. Gri's beak, I swear the entire city could fit inside the palace, with room to spare. Just why did they build the palace to be so big like this? It probably had hundreds, if not thousands, of years of history behind this.

But why was I wondering about this? I never cared about archaeology before, and I was not an architect by any means. I guess it was the way it towered above the city that stuck out to me, and the fact that it was made by hand. I could tell by the marketplace alone that they were not as advanced as Harthyn was.

As we made our way through the palace gates, the three of us were greeted to a different site that made me wonder if we were still in the same world. We found ourselves in a courtyard that was green and growing with plants. So far the only green I had seen was on the clothes of some of the merchants, as well as some melons and fish. It was nice as some of the parks back home, with a fountain and everything. I did a double take at the fountain. That had to be all the water in the city. What was wrong with these people?

"Taking in the sights, are you?" Scrooge asked me as we made our way up the steps of the palace.

Gesturing to the fountain behind us, I said, "That's the only source of water I've seen in the entire city. Do the people in charge here keep it all to themselves?"  
"No, good sir. They do not." Genie said as he took the form of a… was he supposed to be a butler? Then he changed into an old-styled professor with a white lab coat and I think a chalkboard like they used in schools of the past that contained a map of what I think was the city. "Agrabah has lots of wells scattered throughout its streets. From these wells people can get their refreshments for drinking, cleaning, and laundry. Now class, are there any questions?"

"Is he always like this?" Scrooge asked Razoul.

"You have no idea." The muscular guard told him as we made our way through the halls. First thing I noticed was it was a lot cooler in here than it was outside. Must be the way they designed the hallways, with the ceilings high above us. Whatever it was, it did the trick. After making a few turns, we stopped outside a large pair of doors. "Wait here until I explain things to the Sultan and the princess." He said before he disappeared behind them. The Genie was not far behind him.

It felt like we had waited for over an hour before the doors again, and Genie appeared in a puff of smoke before us, dressed as a butler again. "Your presence is required, good people." He said as he motioned for us to enter. Once inside, we found yet another spacious room pillars decorating the exit to a balcony overlooking the gardens we came through. At that end was the throne, decorated to resemble some golden animal with big ears, tusks, and a long nose? What kind of animals was that?  
"Presenting Scrooge McDuck, the uncle of Donald Duck, and company." Genie said, dressed in a goofy outfit after blowing a long trumpet, as we walked up to the throne, where we got a good look at the person in charge. The Sultan was a short fat bearded man in a feathered turban and a robe with matching pants. He looked old, but he got off the throne with such energy that I didn't think someone his age would have.

He hurried over to us while we were still coming. "You're the uncle of one of Agrabah's saviors?" The Sultan asked him.

"Saviors?" I asked.

"Why of course I am." Scrooge said.

The Genie appeared next to us. "And this boy is a wielder of the Keyblade, just like Sora." I had no idea what to think because usually people only paid attention to me if I broke some rules or hurt someone. Now they were looking at me like I had just won a nationwide school championship, which I had never done and had no intention to. It was making me feel… was this what awkwardness felt like?

I didn't like it.

One of the people also in the room took great notice. He was dressed in an outfit similar to the Sultan's except his turban seemed to have some sort of neck shade down it and a cape. "Another Keyblade Bearer? Do you know Sora?"

Shaking my head, I told him, "No I don't know Sora."  
"He's supposed to be meeting us soon." Clair said to try and help. "We were sent ahead to make sure you were not attacked by someone."

"Aye, a lad called Mortem who seems to have power over the darkness." Scrooge added as a monkey wearing a fez and a vest came up to us.

"Behave yourself, Abu." A woman close to the one who asked me if I knew Sora said as she walked up to us. She was dressed in a sky blue cropped top with sleeves that looked sewn in, and matching pants with the same curved shoes I've seen a lot of in this world. She had a pair of gold earrings on and she also wore a headband with a sapphire adorned in it. She looked like one of those supermodels the popular kids always fawned over, but she carried herself like a warrior. Maybe not a soldier, but definitely not someone I wanted for an enemy.

Taking off his hat, Scrooge bowed before the maiden. "Am I correct in assuming you are Princess Jasmine of Agrabah?"

"I am."

"A princess?" Clair wasted no time going onto her knees. "Forgive me. I did not know-."  
"Please. Rise." The princess helped her to her feet, which surprised us. "There is no need for such formalities."

The monkey, Abu, then climbed up my body, looking at me with big curious eyes. "Shoo." I told the monkey as it leapt off, putting my hands in my pockets. That was when I realized something of mine was missing. "Wait. What? How… where'd it…" The dots then connected in my head. "You little thief!"

"Abu, did you take something?" Genie asked the monkey, transforming into a female teacher at a desk while the monkey was put at a student desk they used in the old days. With a shrug, the monkey leapt up as I ran towards him. That's when I fell forward, crashing against the floor that sent pain through my body.

"Ow! What the… what in Gri's name is that?" I asked as I saw what tripped me. It looked like a purple carpet with gold patterns, something that looked vaguely feline, with matching tassels. What freaked me out was that it was floating off the ground, and raised up like it was looking at me. That thing even lifted up one of its tassels and waved them at me as if scolding me.

"It's a carpet. A flying carpet." My cousin was staring wide eyed at the flying house decoration. "How is that possible?"  
"Aladdin and Abu met Carpet in the Cave of Wonders, and Carpet's been a good friend ever since." Jasmine told us while Scrooge and Clair joined me in looking at the flying carpet. Looking at my cousin, I knew in an instant what she was thinking and I didn't like it.

Before I could say anything, she turned to the one called Aladdin and asked, "Aladdin? If it's no trouble, may I ride on Carpet?"  
"Certainly." He said.

Turning into some sort of flight attendant, Genie also created a small flight of stairs for her. "All passengers may now board the Carpet. Please keep all hands and feet on the ride at all times." Clair then climbed the stairs, but before they could take off, I grabbed one of the tassels.

"Clair. Let's think about this. We have no idea what this thing can do."  
"It's not a thing, Jason. It's Carpet." She told me. "And you might want to try having some fun for once." At that, the two of them began to fly around the room, with me hanging on to one of the tassels! Clair was soon laughing while I was screaming. If any of my pals back home saw this I would've never heard the end of it. Before long, I had lost hold of the tassel and I ended up crashing against one of the pillars.

I heard someone gasp followed by the sound of feet landing on the floor. "Jason? Are you okay? Say something."  
"... Ow." Was all I managed before I fell backwards, crashing on the ground. The next thing I knew I was in some sort of hospital bed with Genie standing over me in an old fashioned lab coat with a mask over his face.

"This boy's in critical condition!" He said as he wheeled me around. "We need to get him to the ER Stat!"

"I'm fine!" I snapped at him, sitting up, but the Genie wheeled me out of the room.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I blinked at Genie's antics, a little weirded out by them. He acted like he was part of some eccentric comedy with how he rushed Jason out. A few seconds later, he puffed right back in, making me jump almost to the ceiling. "Is he always like this?" I asked Abu, who had climbed up my shoulder. The simian nodded in response.

"Scrooge? Razoul said you wanted to talk about some business?" The Sultan asked.  
Brightening up, the elder duck nodded. "Ah, yes. While passing through the marketplace, I noticed there was lots of fruits and spices being sold. I believe that-."

"Wait. When was this? Before or after the Heartless attacked?" I asked the elder duck, which earned me a glare from him but concerned looks from the others in the room.

"The Heartless are back in Agrabah?" Aladdin asked.

Nodding, the Genie went, "Yeah, but they were all like…" he then transformed into a bunch of the Heartless, albeit more laughable than what my cousin and I faced earlier that day. Then blue versions of Jason, Scrooge, and I showed up, attacking the Heartless with weapons and magic, with the battle ending with the Heartless going poof while the blue versions of us cheered in goofy poses.

Looking at the two of us, the Sultan noted, "So you were able to best the Heartless in battle."  
"Barely." Razoul said. "I saw the battle, and these are inexperienced children. I would prefer if seasoned warriors were fighting the Heartless, and not some whelps."

That made my eyes narrow, but it was Scrooge who spoke up. "Inexperienced children? I'll have you know that I was fighting warlords ten times as fierce while you were still a wee babe."

"Wait, you were?" I asked the duck, raising an eyebrow with surprise.

Nodding, he answered, "Aye. That I have. But even I have not faced the likes of Mortem."

"He and Jason fought each other, but not even my cousin was a match for him." Looking at the Sultan, I finished, "We fear he may come here."

The Sultan furrowed his brow at that. "Oh dear…"  
The doors opened, and Jason reentered, looking disheveled and with a fire in his eyes. "Where is that blue-."  
"Jason!" The elder duck snapped at him. "Can't you see we're in a meeting?"  
I rose an eyebrow as I noticed his disheveled state. "What happened to you, Jace?"  
"Don't ask." was his answer.  
"Your companions claim you fought this Mortem." Jasmine directed the topic back to the warning we had come here to give.

Nodding, my cousin answered, "Yeah. The guy is tough, I'll give him that. What I don't get is why he'd come here."

Jasmine pondered for a moment as she looked to be thinking about what we had told her. "Do you know what his goal is?"  
"I'm afraid we don't." I admitted.

"From what we do know, it seems a little coincidental that the Heartless show up around the same time he does." Jason noted.

"Especially not long after the terrible earthquake Agrabah endured."

That caught our attention. "Earthquake?"

"We've had an earthquake back where we're from too." Scrooge said.

Turning into a scientist, Genie said, "Very unusual. No fault lines anywhere near the kingdom, yet we feel it like the city was the epicenter. It rattled the magic forces of the universe to its core. I should know. Here's the data to prove it." Genie held up a bunch of numbers and charges and stuff in front of us as if that would confirm what he was saying. I don't know what Jason thought, but it made no sense to me.

"Umm…"

My cousin went into thinking mode. "Not only do Mortem and the Heartless show up about the same time, but both worlds experienced an earthquake that shakes even magic? It can't be a coincidence."

"Everyone we know is trying to find the connection between all this." Scrooge said to remind Jason and I as well as comfort the royal family. "We came to warn you in case the lad decides to show himself here."  
"In that case, thank you." the Sultan told us.  
There was still one thing that was bothering me. "Why would Mortem want to come here?"

"I believe it is because of me." The princess admitted

"What would he want with you?" Jason questioned as he crossed his arms.

"Jasmine." Aladdin looked at her as if he didn't want her to say why.

"They need to know." Turning back to us, she answered, "Because I hold one of the Hearts of Light."  
"The what?" We both asked.

Jasmine sighed. "I am one of the Seven Princesses of Heart." she told us. "They are people whose hearts are filled with the purest light in them."

"Yeah, right." Jason rolled his eyes, expecting this to be a joke. However, no one started laughing. Not even Genie. "You're serious."

"Oh, she's completely serious." Genie nodded.

"The princess does not make jokes of such matters." Razoul insisted.

Scratching my head, I voiced my thoughts. "But if your heart holds no darkness, what use could someone make of it?"

"I have seen men try to use the hearts for dark purposes." The princess looked at us. "I can tell you that as one of you bears the Keyblade, it is your duty to protect the Hearts from those who would use them for evil."

* * *

Once we had finished delivering our warning, Scrooge got down to business. He began with the spices that he had spied in the marketplace, and began going into detail about how he could help both Agrabah and himself profit from selling the spices in every market the duck knew of. It got too boring for both of us, so we had to excuse ourselves. Now we were waiting for Scrooge to finish with why he came to Agrabah so we could go back to looking for Mortem.

Jason crossed his arms. "What is taking him so long? Why can't he finish up faster?"

"It could be that the deal he's talking about is taking longer than he thought?" I suggested, shrugging.

My cousin just shook his head. "Every second we waste gives Mortem more time to do whatever he wants. We need to get going and find him. Why did the Keyblade bring us here if he wasn't here?"

"I think we should wait for Scrooge before we do anything." I said.

"At least I got this back from the monkey." Jason held up his holo-screen, which was deactivated right now.

"That's what he stole?" I rose an eyebrow. Jason nodded in reply right as a beeping came from it. That surprised both of us as my cousin answered it, pulling up a holographic image of a guy we recognized from the program.

He was about our age, a little older than Jason, but he had dark skin and dreadlocks. His blue eyes widened with surprise. "Wha- who is this? How do you have Jason's holo-screen?"

A distorted voice came from behind him, alerting us to another of the people from the program. "Brax? What's going on?" I recognized the voice as belonging to Eini, the most unforgettable person we knew.

"Braxton, it's me." My cousin insisted. "I'm in Agrabah with Clair."

"Dameat! You're both alive!" Looking at us, he added, "Where's this Agrabah place? We'll come find you."  
"That's going to be a little difficult." Jason began to explain. "I don't know how it works, but I think we're in a parallel existence. A reality different from our own. At least that's how Clair keeps explaining it. All I know is that people here in Agrabah are incredibly primitive, like they never had an Industrial Revolution."

Braxton blinked at that explanation. "I don't understand. Yeller told us you were probably- we were trying to locate your bodies to bring them back home."

My blood froze at that. Everyone else thought we were dead? But Professor Yeller knew where we were. Why didn't he tell them the truth?

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

Agrabah…

As I watched the two fools talk on their device, I found myself intrigued by what the person in the hologram was saying. Their friends thought they were dead? How was this going to affect them? If they had any sense, they would just go home and forget about this. Now, I had a heart to go and collect…

Wait a minute. Just how was I supposed to hold on to the hearts when I had them? There were seven of the hearts, and I had only two hands. Did that idiot expect me to use both hands for all seven? Guess I'll have to worry about that AFTER I get what I came for.

* * *

 **And now it's time for an announcement. I'm going to be waiting a while to post new chapters because I'm going to try and get ten chapters written for each story. I want to be able to get further along in each story without having to go back and change things after their written. I thank you for your patience though.**

 **You can tell that next chapter will feature a battle with Mortem. Something I really want to do is have Genie make references to anime like Naruto and Sword Art Online, but I can't figure out what to have him do and/or say.**


	5. Unexpected Detours

**I apologize for the long wait. I kept getting distracted, and then my laptop had to get taken in for various reasons. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever and YamiChaos27 for helping look over and edit this chapter.**

* * *

Journey of Discovery Chapter 5

MORTEM'S POV

Leaving the two in the hallway, I made my way to the throne room, where inside the first of the Seven Lights was waiting. The fools didn't even have a guard outside, which screamed a sense of complacency to me. They should've known better than to leave something as precious as a Heart of Light unprotected like this. Upon coming to the doors, I prepared to blast them open and rush in towards my prize.

However, before I could make a move, my arm was grabbed from the side. Turning, I found myself staring at an old man in grey robes and a cloth over his eyes, saying that he was blind. "Be forewarned, Mortem. Steal away the light, and you open the door to chaos."

"Get off me, old fool." Pulling myself free, I summoned my Keyblade and prepared to strike him down. However, he was gone like he had never been there. That caused me to pause in my attempt. Where did he go? Who was he? How did he know my name? Whatever. I didn't have time. I needed that heart, and I was going to get it.

Summoning as much dark energy as I could, I threw it all at the doors, blasting them off their hinges and reducing them to splinters. Everyone in the throne room jumped at my arrival, with the one guard who was inside drawing his scimitar. "Who dares to threaten the Sultan and princess?"

"If you value your life, get out of my way." I said as I ran forward, Keyblade raised to strike him down. However, there was a puff of blue smoke and I found my Keyblade being held down on an operating table while a blue-skinned man with crazy white hair in a lab coat was running tests over it.

"Great Scott! Marty, I have run the numbers, and I can only conclude this is an authentic Keyblade!" He said in a strange accent.

Frowning, I channeled my dark energy again and unleashed it on the big blue man, who changed forms when he hit. It then came to me. This palace had the protection of a genie. I wasn't sure how I knew that, but it didn't matter. Turning to the princess, I said, "There you are."  
"Who are you? Are you Mortem?" She asked me.

"So those two did tell you of me. Then you must know why I have come." Pointing my Keyblade at her, I prepared to charge in to take her heart. However, I was blocked by the man who looked closer to her age.

"Jasmine, run!"

"Move before I kill you."

"Oi! Lad. Clear out before I stuff you full of your own garbage!" The elder duck said as he hit me in the side with his cane. With a snarl, I forced the one protecting the princess away before I swung to kill the duck, but to my surprise, he managed to block me with that cane while a smile appeared on his face. I realized this duck was no pushover but an experienced fighter.

I then heard footsteps behind me. "What's going on?" I heard the girl from the hallway ask.

"You. Mortem!" Sensing the appearance of another Keyblade, I realized the idiot from before was preparing to attack me. Summoning my dark powers, I blasted my attackers back so I could turn and parry the blow of the stupid punk. "You're going to pay for what you did."

I just frowned. I didn't like this guy because his mind seemed like little more than a broken record. With a swift motion, I kicked the punk away before leaping up to bring my Keyblade down on him.

"Rasengan!" Something hit me in the side, sending me flying into the wall. Growling in pain, I looked to see the Genie had changed form, this time to some spikey blonde kid in an orange jumpsuit. Turning to the other guy, he said, "Jason, don't worry. Work hard enough and have faith, and you can be what you want, even the Hokage. Believe it!" I had no idea what that big blue pest was talking about, but I was really starting to hate him.

"Whatever." The one called Jason growled as he glared at me. Breaking free of the wall, I ran forward to attack them.

"Fire!" The girl cast a spell, making me pause to strike it down with my Keyblade. Narrowing my eyes, I decided to show her some real magic and threw a dark fireball at her. With a gasp, she threw herself to the floor as it flew over her, singing a bit of her hair.

With a growl Jason began to run towards me, but in a puff of smoke Genie was beside him, dressed in black brandishing two swords. "Jason, Al, Scrooge. The only way to win this boss battle is together."

"I work alone." The teen said as he punched the blue guy and ran forward. Holding _Vengeful Chaos_ up, I managed to block his pathetic attack and forced him back. However, the one called Al ran forward and sliced at me with his scimitar, making it hard pressing for me to block him. What made it worse was the duck called Scrooge ran forward and grabbed my ankle with the crook of his cane. Pulling back, the old fowl made me cry out as I fell backwards, crashing against the floor with enough force to knock the wind out of me. I then found myself surrounded by Scrooge, Genie, and Al, who looked as if they had won this battle.

Coming up, Jason grabbed me and held me up. "Now to make you pay for destroying my way home."  
"The Sultan will deliver his sentence." The guard growled as he came up.

"This is personal."  
Spitting in his face, I snapped, "If I had the choice, I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but only after tearing your heart out."  
"Shut up, you son of a trytog." The way he said that made me feel it was something foul.

"Jason! Language!" The girl cried out, confirming my suspicions.

Clenching my fists, I felt the darkness in me rising up to new levels I had not felt before, or if I had there was no memory of it. Focusing on that energy, letting it consume my emotions and being, I let out a cry of rage that forced all of them back. As _Vengeful Chaos_ transformed into its bazooka mode, I aimed it at the Genie and pulled the trigger, blasting him back with so much darkness it darkened the room again.

That's when I noticed it. My darkness was starting to take the shape of creatures with sleek blue bodies and arrow shaped heads. The red eyes they had creeped even me out, and they slid into the shadows as easily as the Heartless did. Some larger ones also appeared, with bodies built similarly to the Big Bodies, complete with their own insignia on their bodies. What in the world was going on?

"Unversed!" Scrooge called out to the others as he whacked one with his cane. Unversed? Is that what they were called? I had to get answers. Opening a corridor behind me, I decided to use this time to escape for now. But I would be back.

"Hold it!" Jason cried out as he charged towards me, but he was too late. The entrance closed and I began to make my way through the Corridors of Darkness.

* * *

JASON'S POV

Worbazz! He got away again! Cursing whatever allowed him to escape, I turned to the nearest of the creatures, the ones Scrooge called Unversed, and began to vent my anger on them. With a couple of jabs and a thrust, I managed to destroy the stupid thing before turning to the next one.

Aladdin and Scrooge were also holding their own, though one of Aladdin's strikes missed as the thing melted to the floor and snuck behind him. When it popped up, Scrooge whacked it with his cane, stunning it while Razoul sliced it, finishing it off.

One of the big Unversed things began charging towards Clair and Jasmine, who were checking up on Genie. With a gasp, Clair cast her Fire spell, doing some damage and managing to slow it down, but it didn't destroy it. With a growl I began to run over with Aladdin getting ahead of me. Plunging his scimitar into the back of the monster, he managed to finish it off while I found myself angry that I wasn't fast enough.

"Father!" Jasmine called out with wide eyes. Turning, I could see another one of the big Unversed making its way to the Sultan, who was trying to back away. However, I saw several more of the smaller ones coming up towards my cousin and the princess. I couldn't be in two places at once, so I made my choice. Turning, I ran towards the smaller ones.

With a couple of jabs and a thrust I managed to destroy one of them before repeating the process with another. I could hear cries of protest behind me but I blocked them out. I wasn't going to apologize for my choice. Preparing to attack the last one, it then leapt up and slashed at me with its arms. With a grunt I fell backwards, still smarting over the attack of that thing.

"Fire!" Clair called out, hitting the Unversed before it could strike me again. That left it burned and smoking a bit before I slashed it again and finished it off. I then turned towards the Sultan, only to see Carpet carrying the fat ruler off while Aladdin and Razoul both stabbed the monster from behind, finishing it off and sending it back into the darkness.

Turning to my cousin, who was getting up while Genie shook his head, I said, "I had everything under control."  
"Why didn't you help the Sultan?" She asked me, frowning as she did. I also noticed that Scrooge, Jasmine, Razoul, Abu, and the Sultan were all frowning at me.

"Why should I explain myself?" I frowned back.

"Are you daft? That was the Sultan's life! If anything had happened to him…" Scrooge began to explain while Carpet lowered itself to the ground to let the monarch off.

"What does it matter? Aladdin and Razoul were still here, and were showing that they were capable of protecting the Sultan." I said.

Throwing up his arms, the duck said, "That's not the point! As a bearer of the Keyblade, it's your duty to make sure chaos is held back and prevented."

"So why do I get the feeling that even if I protected the old geezer you would still be upset with my choice?"

My words offended the old man. "Old geezer?"

"Mind your tongue boy. Insult the Sultan again, and I'll cut it out." Razoul warned.

I ignored him. "Weren't all of you saying how bad it would be if Jasmine lost her heart? Why don't you make up your minds as to who is more important to protect?"

"Except you weren't protecting Jasmine, were you?" Clair asked me. "You were more concerned about me."

"So what?"  
"So what? We're part of something bigger than us. What's going on right now is more important than us getting back home!"  
"You just want to work more on your hocus pocus."  
"Enough!" A sharp whack on the head left me cringing in pain while Scrooge looked at me frowning. "Your boneheaded attitude nearly cost us the battle. You tried to go through it solo like the rest of us weren't even there!"

Getting up, I glared at him. "That's because I work alone!"

In a puff, the Genie had transformed into a woman that looked like an old-fashioned school teacher, with a board that had a bunch of junk written on it and everything. "Ah, young man, but you forget the important lesson. There's no I in team."

"Aye, lad, and Sora knew that his strength came from-."

"I'm not Sora!" I snapped. "And I got my strength on my own. No friends."

"Jason." Standing tall, Jasmine looked at me. "I order you to leave Agrabah now."

I wasn't sure who was the most surprised out of all of us, but something inside me was shocked at that.

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

As I exited the Corridor of Darkness, I thought of everything I needed to bring up with him. First on my priority list was those creatures I had summoned, that had come from my own darkness. The duck had called them Unversed, but I had no recollection of them. The second item was how I was to carry the hearts once I had them.

"Ah, Mortem. Have you managed to retrieve the Heart of Light?" The man asked as he appeared from behind a shelf.

Shaking my head, I marched over to him. "No. Because something came up. While I was battling those fools I summoned a vast amount of darkness, and created monsters. They weren't the Heartless. They had red eyes and the insignia was different."  
"Not this perchance, would it?" I looked up to see the scientist had pulled up an image that matched the insignia to the letter.

Looking at him, I asked, "How did you know?"

"I found it while looking through the data. The creatures you summoned are called Unversed, and what I have says they are born from the negative emotions of other beings. They were a problem over thirteen years ago, but then they vanished."

"So why did they come from me?"

"I will have to run some tests to find out."

"Pass." Time for the other problem. "Something came up while I was in that desert world. How am I supposed to carry around the hearts? I only have two hands."

"Well, thanks to the data you procured for me, I have found the location of each of the seven hearts. However, when scanning the known worlds for the light, this happens." While he had been speaking, a holographic map of the known worlds that the Restoration Committee had put together of the known worlds popped up. One by one, I saw areas light up showing where the hearts were located… wait a minute. There were seven hearts, but I saw…

"There's an eighth location? But there's nothing out there."

"That they know of." The scientist looked at me. "Which means that what is there is connected to the Hearts of Light. Maybe a possible solution to the current conundrum."

"It could just be a flaw in your computer."

That earned me a snarl from the man. "This is the most advanced piece of equipment in existence. It has no flaws!" After clearing his throat, he regained his composure. "Regardless, it could be worth checking out. You'll be the first to explore a brand new world undiscovered by even the Restoration Committee."

Rolling my eyes, I opened another dark corridor, preparing to head to that location. Before I left, I gave the man one last warning. "The brats made contact with some friends. People who thought they were dead."

"Leave that to me."

With that, the door closed behind me and I made my way through the Corridors of Darkness, heading towards the area that the egghead said had a strong light. It was odd there was a light as strong as the Princesses of Heart, and I wanted to find out what it was. But if that old coot's equipment proved to be faulty, then I was going to make him pay for wasting my time no matter what he did for me.

The Corridor opened and when I stepped out, first thing that I noticed was the bright light. I realized where I was had a bright sun too, but unlike the deserts of Agrabah, there were trees all around me, and I could hear the call of gulls and smell salt in the wind. When my eyes adjusted, I realized where I was. "An island?"

Not only that, it was a tropical island with palm trees and palmettos. Further down I could see white sand stretching far in both directions while the water was bluer than anything I could remember, though that wasn't saying much. Already this world was proving to be far more beautiful than the last one.

Whatever. I wasn't here to sightsee. I had to find this light, and see what it was. Activating my powers, I focused on sensing the light although I was not expecting anything. Hold on. I found it… on the bottom of the ocean?

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

The mood on the Gummi was a foul one, no pun intended. Not only had Jason gotten us kicked out of Agrabah, but any headway Scrooge had made in making a deal with them had gone up in smoke. Guess who blamed who?

"You are the worst candidate to be chosen by a Keyblade!" The elder duck was yelling at him, after having set the Gummi on autopilot.

"I didn't ask to be chosen! All I want to do is kick Mortem's butt and get back home!"

"There you go again, me this and me that! Even my nephew Donald knows when to put his own desires aside for the sake of all worlds!"

"Then why don't you have him take this thing?"

"You don't choose a Keyblade! A Keyblade chooses you! Though I don't think this one was thinking straight."

"It's just a lump of metal!"

"It is not!"

"Are they always like this?" Someone asked from the seat next to me, making me jump. Turning, I saw it was a woman, but someone I had not seen before. She had white curly hair, but didn't look like she was any older than a high school graduate. She had a punch of blue tribal tattoos on her and was wearing some sort of dress made from barkcloth with what seemed like a string of shark teeth wrapped around her waist.

I was at a loss of words. How did she get in here? Why was she dressed like she came for a cultural center? How could she appear young and old at the same time? "J-just today. N-n-not to be rude, but who are you?"

"Oh, yes. I can't expect you to know who I am given you hail from another world. To answer your question, my name is Hina."

The two of them were still in their argument when Scrooge said, "Clair, I'm sorry, but I cannot work with… curse me kilts! Who are you and what are you doing on my ship?"

"Oh, hello Scrooge. I was just introducing myself to Clair. I am Hina and I have come to ask for your assistance." She said.

"How long were you there?" Jason asked. "Did you stow away?"

"No. I only came aboard a few minutes ago."

That got his attention. "That's impossible. There's nothing out there but empty space."

"Well, maybe impossible for a mortal, but a goddess comes and goes when she pleases."

I gasped at that. "You're a goddess?"

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Jason said.

That earned him another whack from Scrooge's cane. "Are you daft? You never ask a deity for proof, unless you want an early grave."

"Wearing a dress." Hina said, and like that Jason's clothes were changed to a dress not even Eini would wear. I'm sorry to say this, but I ended up laughing at the sight. It was hilarious, even if the dress was offensive to my eyes.

"You said something about needing our assistance?" I asked the goddess.

"Oh, yes. You see, for a thousand years I had to keep watch over my husband while he did some time for incurring the wrath of the gods. However, he was freed and made amends. I was hoping he'd come home to me, but he hasn't. I was hoping you could help me to find him."

Jason rose an eyebrow. "If you're a goddess, and that's a big if, then why don't you look for him yourself?"

"Don't you think I tried?" Hina's eyes narrowed and I was afraid he was going to get obliterated. Instead, she continued, "On my world, I'm the moon goddess, and my powers are only at their peak at night. During the day, I'm not as powerful."

"Let me guess: he travels during the day and hides away at night, making it difficult for you to find him." My cousin surmised.

"Exactly."

After some thinking, Scrooge said, "Surely you must've heard of my nephew, Donald, and his friends. Why come to us for assistance? Granted I would be able to help, and Clair has a few tricks of her own, but I'm afraid Jason would be nothing but dead weight."

"Oh, he won't be dead weight." Hina said. "If you agree to help me, I promise I will show you the path to finding your way home."

Jason perked up at that. "The way home? What are we waiting for?"

"This is going to be a disaster." Scrooge said.

"We just need to recruit one more." Hina said as she waved her hand over the controls. "Next stop, Motunui."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. The transformations Genie did in this chapter were:**

 **1\. Emmett Brown from the _Back to the Future_ series**

 **2\. Kirito from _Sword Art Online_**

 **3\. Naruto from _Naruto_**

 **It was fun to do those. As for what happened with Jason, I was trying to help his character development by having that his attitude causes problems at first. I guess playing TellTale games for a while, you tend to see possibilities for choices to be laid out, as well as causes and effects. What makes it more frustrating is when there is no right choice, and regardless of what you choose bad things still happen. Now Jason's going to have to find some way to redeem himself in the eyes of the people of Agrabah.**

 **For the end of the chapter, I figured it was a good time to let you know what the next world would be. It's the world based off of the 2016 film _Moana_. A while ago, when I had the option of doing polls on DA I asked if I should include _Moana_ as a world in my story. To my surprise it became the only poll to have a unanimous result. As for Hina, she's based off of the moon goddess from various Polynesian myths. I did find originally she was going to be in the film, but got cut for unknown reasons. I didn't like the design she had in the artwork showing her scrapped, so I altered her while keeping some elements of her design, like the tattoos and the dress. **

**I'll try to not take long next time. Oh, and before I forget, the blind man from the beginning was Fasir/Phasir, from _Aladdin: The Animated Series_. I don't know why, but it seemed right to have someone warn Mortem that his actions were going to have consequences, and he was most likely not going to like them. **


	6. Tropical getaway

**Special thanks to Flautist4ever for editing this.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Braxton, Johri, Eini, and Grace belong to Flautist4ever.**

* * *

Chapter 6

CLAIR'S POV

The Lanes Between...

I was still surprised by all this development. We were now traveling with a goddess to another world. Wrapping my mind around this was proving to be more difficult than I had thought. I had been taught about ancient spirits and powerful entities that served under Gri, but… I had no words to explain it. It made me think of learning from my grandfather as a child.

* * *

Eight years ago…

"In the beginning, the only creatures that lived in the world were the ferocious kaiju." Grandpa was telling his story. "These titanic monsters were always fighting among each other, trying to dominate the world. Then, the great griffin Gri came and put an end to the fighting. Many of the kaiju became the mountains we see around us, and others became the islands of the seas.

"Once that was done, Gri brought new life into the world. He brought forth the plants that give beauty and air to Harthyn, and he created the animals to enjoy the world. He even created powerful spirits and guardians to help protect his creations. But, his best creation was humans. They saw the goodness of Gri, and began to worship him. However, it was not to last."

"What happened, Grandpa?" I asked him.

Looking at me, he answered, "As time passed, humans saw less and less of Gri, and began to develop their own ideas as to how the world worked. To this day, people deny the existence of Gri and his deeds, despite having awakened twenty of the kaiju. And it is only a matter of time before the world pays the price.

"But," He added to me, "out of the people of the world, the Hocamli and our neighbor nations have managed to hold on to the old ways, and Gri has blessed us with strength, knowledge, and families." At that last part, he picked me up and held me close. "So, Clair, do not forget who you are. You are part of a nation of heroes and warriors, and the spirits of our ancestors will guide you and help you as long as you hold on to your faith in Gri."

"Thank you, Dad, for reminding my daughter of our heritage." Mom said as she took me from him. "And to think you were against me marrying outside of the Hocamli."  
"I never said I didn't make my share of mistakes." He said while holding his cape over him. "Mark my words, Clair. There will come a day when you will be numbered among the great heroes and warriors of the Hocamli."

Shaking her head, Mom said, "How about we help her with her assignment from school first?" Smiling at her words, Grandpa reached into his bag and pulled out a traditional dress of the Hocamli. "Dad? Is that…?"

"Your dress from when you were Clair's age? Yes it is." Handing it to me, he added, "When you wear this Clair, you connect yourself to your forefathers, to those who came before you. That connection is the greatest treasure of the Hocamli."

* * *

Present day…

Now here I was, standing in the presence of one who claimed to be a goddess as she took us to this Motunui. Oh, how I wish Grandpa could see this. He would be so happy, seeing this as proof that the tales of my people were true. I know I would love to shove this down the throats of people like Jezebel Ulfric.

"Hey. Hina. How much further?" Jason asked from where he was sitting.

"Oh, we're almost there." Hina said right as we were attacked from the side.

Grabbing on to his top hat before it could fall too far away, Scrooge said, "Curse me kilts! What was that?"

"Heartless!" The moon goddess responded as we looked out. Sure enough, floating around what looked like islands in the middle of space were Heartless, each shaped like rejects from the ocean floor, and I couldn't recall the names of them.

Moving his seat up, the old duck said, "Ah, so you want to play rough, eh?" Grabbing some of the controls, he began to pilot the Gummi in between the huge coral formations that also surrounded us, causing some of them to fly, or swim, into the giant reef remains.

Grabbing the controls by his seat, Jason began to fire at the Heartless, destroying them and sending the hearts they had into the unknown. Taking the ones next to me, I also began to fire, using the targeting system to guide my shots and clear a path for us. Some of them flew, or swam, not sure what, to the ship and rammed it.

After we were done being jostled around Scrooge growled, "Oh, you want a piece of Scrooge McDuck, do you?" Moving his controls around he began to make the Gummi spin in a barrel roll, which managed to both dodge incoming Heartless attacks and hitting others with the wings of the Gummi, sending them flying into the formations around us. I was starting to feel glad he insisted on coming with us. He was an expert.

Hina then spoke up to him. "See those fire coral formations ahead? Fly between them."

"I see them." Tilting the controls, Scrooge began to guide the Gummi towards the coral the moon goddess pointed out, while Jason and I kept blasting the Heartless away from the Gummi. I was still missing a lot, but I think I was doing better than I was before even if it was hard to tell.

Pressing a button, the elder duck caused the Gummi to accelerate through the narrow space reef heading towards the fire coral. Some straggling Heartless tried to catch up behind us, but my cousin blasted them away, with me taking care of the last one with a successful blast. I felt a sense of accomplishment swell up in me as the blinding light from before engulfed us.

When I could see again, I got a good look at the new world we had arrived at. It appeared to be a huge ocean, with a few islands rising out of the water here and there. It amazed me at how much its structure seemed to compose one environment like Agrabah, and yet it was completely different at the same time. At least here I could see where people managed to get food and water to survive.

"It's a whole lot of nothing." Jason said.

Looking at him, Hina said, "Don't judge by appearances, Jason. There's a lot to each world that you can't always see."

"How are we supposed to find the person who can help us find your husband?" I asked her.

Smiling, Hina said. "Don't worry. Night has fallen now, and now I can see more than I can during the day. Ah, she has returned to her home island."  
"Wait. She?" Jason asked, but the goddess ignored him.

"Well, let's be off. Adventure is calling our names." Scrooge said as he pushed the buttons to send us down to the world.

* * *

Motunui…

"Meeeeeerliiiiiiiiiiiiin!" Jason's yell echoed through the tropical forest, spooking some birds from their sleep. They cried out in agitation at the one who disturbed their sleep.

"Jace, I don't think he can hear you all the way out here." I said. Once again our clothes had changed styles again, and Hina had been generous enough to give enough light so we could see. I was now in a barkcloth dress like Hina, but my had a pair of purple straps going over my shoulders. Above that was a red one that ended about halfway between my knees and ankles, with an extra split yellow skirt and a blue sash. I also noticed my outfit was designed with heart and crown patterns. I wasn't really sure why, but somehow it seemed fitting.

Glaring at me, my cousin said, "When we get back to Radiant Garden, I'm going to kill him for this." He was now in a blue skirt of some sort with the same heart and crown markings on it. I went ahead and made the assumption that in this world men didn't have pants, so his outfit had to change to reflect that. I just hoped there were caucasian people here or he was still going to stick out.

Smiling at him, the moon goddess said, "I don't see why you should be so upset Jason. That's a fine lavalava you're wearing now."  
"You call it a lavalava. I'll call it a dress." He growled at her, making me worry he was going to incur her wrath. However, we heard a cry not too far away from us, so that took our attention away from the argument.

"Oh no. She's in danger." Hina warned us. Scrooge, after cracking some joints in his neck, took the charge of going in the direction of the scream. Looking at each other, Jason and I moved to follow them. It was then I noticed I could feel the ground underneath my feet. A quick look made me see neither Jason or I had footwear on. Guess they didn't exist in this world.

* * *

JASON'S POV

We followed Hina and Scrooge through the trees to a beach where we could see someone surrounded by some of the strangest Heartless we had seen. I saw that they appeared to be wearing skirts made out of grass while twirling torches around masked heads. The more they twirled the torches, the larger the flames got. Without waiting, the old duck ran forward and began to whack them with his cane.

Summoning my Keyblade, my cousin and I ran forward to assist the old quack before the Heartless could get him. Blocking one of the torches from those things, I tried to force it back before it could strike again, but then something happened. The flames from the torches got bigger, even streamed out like an old-fashioned flamethrower. I cried in pain as the flames engulfed me, and I expected that to be the end of me.

However, a white light engulfed me, and the damage I felt from the attack on that Heartless seemed to vanish. Looking around, I saw light from the moon surrounding me and I saw the traces of a burn disappear from my shoulder. Wait. Moonlight? But that would mean… looking, I saw Hina also seemed to be glowing with the light of the moon.

"Told you I was the goddess of the moon." She smirked. "Do not worry about damage in this fight. I will heal you."

Ducking from one of the Terror Torches, not sure why that was their name because it was ridiculous, Clair moved back from their attack. Why didn't she fight… wait. Torches. They must gain power from heat, which means her fire magic won't work against them. She would be in trouble, if that was the only spell she knew. "Deep freeze!" She cast the Blizzard spell, hitting one of the Heartless in the face, or mask, or whatever.

That spell did the trick because it recoiled back in fear. With some jabs and a slash, I ended up destroying it before it could do anything else. However, I also got hit in the back by another of the Heartless. With a gasp, I turned and swung my Keyblade at it, but I only managed to cut one of the torches in half. Brandishing his cane, Scrooge ran and tripped the Heartless for me. Casting her Blizzard spell again, Clair managed to freeze it, but before I could move a wooden oar slammed down onto the Terror Torch, destroying it.

It took a moment to realize the person we were trying to rescue was joining us in the fight. She ducked and weaved in between the torches of the Heartless without a fear of her own life. I had to admit that was a refreshing change, but I swung my Keyblade to keep one of the Terror Torches from incinerating her from behind. Throwing a plasma bolt at the one I was grappling with, Clair managed to knock it off its feet while Scrooge used his cane to get the torch away from it. I prepared to finish it off, but then the oar appeared in its chest, indicating it had been thrown like a spear.

As the crystal heart flew up, we turned to help the person finish off the last of the Terror Torches. That was then we got a good look at her. I don't know if it was the light of the moon and torches, but she was incredible. With curly black hair flying around her head, she didn't seem to let that stop her from going on the offensive, and she was not even dressed for combat, with a red top and shredded skirt.

The Heartless raised its weapon up to blow fire at her, but Clair leapt into action first by casting the Blizzard spell at it. As the torch was extinguished, Scrooge ran forward and knocked the weapons out of its hands. "Jason, now's your chance, lad!"

"Don't tell me what to do." I growled, but I was going to do it anyway. Running forward, I passed the person who was helping us as she went to get her oar while I ran to the last Heartless. With a couple of slices and a jab into its mask, which contained the insignia of the Heartless, the monster vanished into wisps of darkness as the crystal heart flew up into the sky.

Panting while Hina's moonlight healed us, Clair walked over to the person who helped us stop the Heartless, only now I could see she was about the same age as we were. Maybe a year or two older than I was. "Thank you for your help." My cousin told her while she pulled her oar out of the sand.

"Aye, lass. That was very brave of you. I see you're quite the fighter."  
"Well, as Chief of Motunui, it's my duty to keep my people safe from things like those monsters." She said as she looked at us. "Who are you, and where are you from?"

"I'm Scrooge McDuck, and these two are Clair Fay and Jason Norman." The old duck said. "We're from a faraway island."

"I guess that's true." Looking at us, especially me, which made me feel uncomfortable in some way, she added, "I haven't seen markings like the ones on your clothes before, and he's so pale I thought he was an ablino at first."  
That made me frown. "Excuse me? Nothing's wrong with my genetics. For your information-." Before I could say anything else Clair covered my mouth with her hand.

Blinking at that, the girl asked, "What was he talking about?"

"Don't mind him. He's an idiot." Hina said.

"That I agree wholeheartedly with." Scrooge nodded.

I would've pulverized him there and then, regardless of his age, except the moon goddess stepped in. "I am glad to finally meet you, Moana of Motunui." So that was the name of the girl.

"How did you know my name?" She asked.

"One does not restore the Heart of Te Fiti without gaining the attention of the gods. I'm surprised the likes of Fe'e or Kanaloa have not come to you."

I had no idea on who those were supposed to be, but it sounded like other gods. Wait. More than one god? What kind of world was this?

"So, Hina. You said we needed Moana to help you. Why is that?" Clair asked, while I noticed that Moana's eyes widened at the name Hina. Guess she was familiar with this goddess. A part of me still did not want to believe all this, but I had nearly been cooked alive and she saved me. I was willing to put my disbelief on hold. For now.

"Well, because she was the last person to see my husband."

Moana gasped at that. "Husband? Who?"

"Oh, you might know him as a changeling, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, and hero to humanity."

"You mean him? He's your husband?" With a sigh she explained, "I haven't seen him since we restored the Heart of Te Fiti. He flew off not long afterwards."

"So, will you help us find him?" Clair asked.

A sad expression appeared on her face. "I would, but I've got my own problems to worry about. My parents disappeared not long ago, and afterwards these monsters have been showing up on Motunui. I have to find them first."

"They're called the Heartless." I said.

"The Heartless?"

"They live up to their name." Clair said. "They're a danger to every being in existence, and unless they are stopped they'll make your people suffer a fate worse than death."

The young chief's eyes widened at that. "Oh no."

"Consider that an incentive to help us." Hina said. "If you do, I will do all in my power to protect your people, and to help you find your parents. This I promise you."

"Thank you, Hina."

* * *

BRAXTON'S POV

Yeller Sciences Space Station…

"What?!" Grace dropped her tray of food. "You're telling me that the two of them are alive?"

"THat's exactly what I'm saying." As the others sat around me, I continued, "I was testing a new program to find their bodies when I locked on to their holo-screens. What doesn't make sense was I couldn't find them in this space."

Looking up from her mirror app on her holo-screen, Eini asked, "What do you mean, not in this space?" I swear, people still go blind from the outfits that girl wears, and being up here in space has not changed that for her.

"As in not in this solar system or galaxy, and I dare say not this universe." Johri answered as she looked up from her tinkering. "Doesn't make much sense, but that shaking from months ago seems to have affected the space around the planet. I know Professor Yeller has been working on learning as much from the Spatial Tremors, as he calls the incident."

"But how can that be?" Grace asked. "Isn't the universe supposed to be everything?"

"Apparently not." Looking at them all, I continued, "I had no hopes of finding their remains, but I chose to try because I couldn't bear it if there was something left and I did nothing to retrieve it. The fact that the two of them are alive… that changes everything. I intend on using everything I've got, all my extra research, into finding where they are and bringing them back. How about you?"

"You were only imagining." Another voice said. Looking over at us, Jezebel, dressed in black, continued, "Those two are dead, and good riddance I say. Jason was a pain in the butt, and Clair was a waste of space. I mean, why bring those two up here when there were plenty of better candidates for his project?"

"And what makes it more confusing is that there were twelve of us selected for his program." Another guy spoke up. "The twelve of us, plus the professor, makes for thirteen up here until a few months ago. Without Jason and Clair, that's eleven left. Why would he want so many?"

Eini shook her head as she looked at him. "Santos. Must you always see conspiracies in everything?"

"Someone has to." He looked at her. "If I didn't point out what all of you are willing to overlook, who knows where we would be."  
"Guys, come on. We're veering off track. This isn't about whether or not we're all needed. And I didn't imagine this. That really was Jason and Clair I made contact with. They're alive, and I'm going to bring them back to Harthyn. You don't want to help? Don't help. But if anything happens to them, I will hold you responsible."

Shrugging, Jezebel got up. "Whatever. I'm not going to waste my time chasing after ghosts I don't care about." As she left, Santos followed her.

Looking at the others, I asked, "How about you? Are you willing to let two of our own perish or are you going to do what you can to help bring them back."

"That sounds like a challenge." Polishing off some of her tools, Johri told me, "Count me in."

"Well, this is going to take a lot of data and research to do." Grace said. "You'll need someone who can keep track of all the information."

Deactivating the holo-screen, Eini turned to us. "Well, I don't have anything better to do. And this sounds like the opportunity of a lifetime. I'm in, but only as long as you're not in charge of the kitchen, Grace."

Smiling at my team, I said, "Then let's go. We've got work to do."

* * *

 **I've been looking forward to doing this world for a while, and it was especially fun to have Jason appear in a lavalava, the skirt thing men wear in Polynesian culture. I did a lot of research into the various cultures to see what they had for the movie, and it was very interesting to learn about.**

 **I was tempted to do more of Clair's background, but I had to tell myself no because it wasn't as relevant to this chapter. I will say I'm going to try to give both characters some development while they're here in this world.**

 **Braxton and his friends are going to be important to the story, and I thought learning that the two they thought were missing were in fact alive would be a good starting point for their character arcs. I just hope I can do a good enough job with them.**

 **I'm going to need to do some thinking for the next chapter because I want to make sure I pace it out good enough without rushing stuff, and I give each character some development. Also, I should probably get to work on the next chapter for _Road to Recovery_. **


	7. Into the monstrous

**Well, after a bit of a hiatus, I am back with a new chapter. I hope you enjoy.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever for editing this.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Into the monstrous

JASON'S POV

Motunui…

"These are boats?" I asked when I saw what Moana planned for us to sail on. "They're little more than rafts." My comment earned me another whack on the head from the stingy old duck.

"Oh, these vessels are seaworthy." Hina told me. "I've spent countless nights watching over the people as they sailed across the sea on these."

After giving me a look, Moana got on one that had a spiral pattern on the sail. The way she touched it made me think of how a soldier would touch a trusted weapon or vehicle. But that did not change the fact that they were incredibly primitive.

Getting up on one of the boats, the elder duck tapped the side with his cane. "Oh, these are excellent crafts for sailing. I've had to make do with less than adequate in my time. Like this one time I was searching for the legendary..."

"Save the story for later." I said. "Let's just go find Hina's squeeze and get this over with."

I then felt a pair of eyes burrowing into me. "Take heed, Jason Norman. It is not wise for a mortal to offend a goddess."

Humphing, I turned to make a retort when something hit me in the head. With a grunt, I looked around to find a conch seashell lying on the beach. Picking it up, I looked at the others. "Who threw this?"

"Don't look at me." Clair said while the others denied any involvement. With a frown, I threw it into the ocean and turned to get on a boat. However, something hard hit me again! Turning with a growl, I found the same seashell lying in the sand. "What in Gri's name is going on?" I asked as I picked it up and threw it back at the water.

That's when the craziest thing happened. A small wave of water reared up out of the still surface and grabbed the seashell like a hand. Before I had time to say or do anything it threw the seashell back at me, hitting me in the face and knocking me on my back on the sand. "What the perdition is going on?"

"Swear." Clair mouthed at me while Scrooge laughed his head off at that. Frowning, I moved to grab the seashell to throw at the old duck. However, the ocean grabbed it first and pulled back, holding it up like it was taunting me. Frowning, I ran over to grab the seashell, but it just kept pulling back, dividing the water like it was creating a path for me.

Oh, for Gri's sake. I ran down the path, trying to get the seashell back so I could throw it at Scrooge. However, there was a swirling sound behind me, and when I turned I saw my path had been cut off and I was standing in the only dry spot with the water surface ten feet above me. "Oh no." I realized too late what was going to happen.

The water came crashing down on me, and I had to hold my breath to keep myself from drowning. The ocean spun around me, threatening to make me lose my lunch and my air. Then, it rushed by me so fast I felt like a torpedo in the water, and thought I was going to crash against some rocks. What happened instead was I was launched out of the water screaming, I'm not ashamed to admit it because that was freaky, and crashed on the deck of one of the boats. The seashell then crashed on my head.

"Oh, come on!" I yelled at the ocean, only to get a squirt of water to my face.  
I heard laughter coming from Scrooge, and I saw he was working to support himself on that cane as he did so. "Oh that was the best thing I had seen since I became your chaperone. Bless me bagpipes, I'd have paid good money to see that."

While I got up, Clair turned to Moana. "What just happened?"

"The ocean is a friend of mine." She said with a smirk while giving a wave of water a high five, furthering my agitation.

Rolling my eyes, I said, "The ocean isn't anyone's friend. It's an inanimate object, just a large body of water that—." I was cut off as the ocean raised its wave hand thing up and slammed it down on me. Growling, I turned to the ocean. "Quit it!" Great. Now I was arguing with water like a crazy guy.

"I did warn you." The moon goddess said. "I too am on good terms with the ocean."

After a few more laughs, Scrooge regained his composure. "Now, then. Shall we set sail?"

"Yes." Hina said as we all got off the boats and pushed them into the ocean. Once they were in deep enough we all climbed back on and looked forward.

Clair, who was on the same boat Scrooge and I were on, looked over at Hina. "So how do we find your husband?"  
The moon goddess pointed at a cluster of stars in the distance. "See that group of stars? That's how we find him. They always move to show which direction he lies in." Her words made me look, and I saw they formed a constellation unlike any back home. The image that came to my mind was a giant hook.

"All right, everyone. Pull the sheet." Moana told us, though only the elder duck made any movement on our boat. Looking at my cousin and I, she asked, "Do you two know how to sail?"

"Will you be mad if we say we don't?" Clair asked.

With a chuckle, the old duck looked over. "Oh, there's nothing to it once you've mastered the basics. Consider this your lessons in Sailing 101."

"Wayfinding 101." The chief corrected him. "First thing to remember is it's about knowing where you're going by knowing where you've been."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

Traveling across the ocean took less time thanks to the craft I was now riding. I had been pondering my problem when my Keyblade activated, and turned into some sort of flying vehicle. A Keyblade Glider, the name had come to my mind. How I knew that was beyond me. All I knew was I was making great time in getting to my destination.

I had flown all day and all night, and my skin was really burnt from the sun. That guy better have something to cure it or I was going to kill him for letting me get like this. It had been a clear night, but I didn't care for the sights. I wanted to get to this anomaly in the Hearts of Light, and figure out what it was.

I could see the sky getting lighter in the distance. Dawn must be approaching, which would mean another day of flying in the hot blistering sun. I was not enjoying this world in the slightest. Why was there so little land? I hadn't seen any islands since I left the one I had started out on, and unless the inhabitants were aquatic I didn't see how anyone could be living here.

Whoa. What was that? I could see something coming up in the distance, hidden in the night although the light of the sun was starting to make it out. It appeared to be a mountain of some sort jutting out from the water like a broken bone. Using my powers, I saw the light I was seeking… underneath it? Maybe it was a dormant volcano or something that I could get down to claim my prize.

Flying up to the top of the mountain, I frowned as I saw it was not a volcano, but a regular mountain with a top… no, not a top. Some sort of face carved into the top, which felt like it was supposed to warn people to stay away. Well, I knew what I needed was under that mountain, so I needed to figure out a way to get down. Landing, I dismissed my glider while I knelt down to observe the markings. Maybe there was a clue as to how I would get past this obstacle and to the light.

"You know, most mortals wouldn't dare to come here." A voice said behind me. Turning, I saw a huge man standing there. This guy had muscles on his muscles, so there was no way he could be human. Tattoos ran across his body like a personal art gallery, as black as his long curly hair. This newcomer was dressed in a skirt made of leaves and had… was that a giant hook? That was supposed to be his weapon?

As silly as this guy looked, I doubted he was someone to take lightly. "I seek something. Something that is under this island, and I'm going to get it no matter what."

"Kid, I don't know what you want, but if you go to Lalotai, you're going to die." The figure said. "As a hero to all, I can't let some mortal go and get themself killed just so they can boast about it to their friends."

"I'm not doing this to boast to my friends. I don't have friends, and I don't want friends. What I want is to get to this Locotie place."

"Lalotai." The figure corrected me. "Last warning. Go home."

Summoning Chaos Ripper, I held it up as I prepared to attack. "If you insist on stopping me, I'll gladly destroy you."  
With a haughty laugh, the figure lifted up his hook. "You got guts, I'll give you that. Most people wouldn't dare to challenge Maui, changeling, shapeshifter, demigod of the wind and sea, hero to all."

Wait. Shapeshifter? He can change forms, and control the wind and sea? If he was a demigod, he must be strong. I smirked at the challenge. "Enough talk."

"Don't say I didn't warn you, kid." The demigod said as he lifted up his giant hook, which glowed while markings of some sort appeared all over it. "Cheeehooo!" Letting out what sounded like a battle cry, he swung his hook at me with more speed than I thought possible for someone his size. Catching me in the side, he managed to knock me to the ground, and I felt myself roll to the edge. Grasping the rock wall, I managed to keep myself from falling off the side.

Pulling myself back up, I conjured some Dark Fireballs and threw them at the shapeshifter. Maui, however, leapt up and brought his weapon down, and I had to roll out of the way to avoid getting hit. I felt the entire mountain island shake from the impact, and a part of me thought the island might collapse from the attack.

Pressing the offensive, I threw more dark fireballs at my opponent, who grunted when they hit them, but he didn't seem to back down. Flipping his weapon around, I thought he was going to come forward with another attack. What he ended up doing was turn himself into a giant hawk. With a screech he flew at me, grabbing my shoulders with those sharp talons and flying me over the ocean where he released me.

As I fell towards the water, I held my Keyblade out and threw it forward so it could change into its Glider mode. As I did, I got tackled from behind by Maui, and as I turned to face him I saw he had turned into some sort of shark. With a growl, I summoned what dark energy I could and blasted him with it, knocking him off me and changing him back into his heavily tattooed form.

"Enough of this." I growled as I reclaimed my Keyblade and it transformed into a Glider. It reminded me of a motorcycle, at least that's what my mind called the vehicle, with a giant cannon at the front. His eyes widened while I open fired at him, blasting the cliff wall with so many shots it created a dust cloud. Smirking at my handiwork, I thought I had defeated the demigod, until some pebbles came crashing down. Looking up, I saw a green lizard of some sort scampering up the rock wall.

"Oh no you don't." Turning my glider upwards, I fired another blast at the escaping Maui. My aim was dead on, as the rock wall exploded, sending him flying up into the sky and forcing him back to human form. Pushing the handles on my Glider forward, I flew up after him, ramming him with my mode of transportation and pushing him further into the sky. Before I could stall, I turned downwards and fired again, blasting the demigod off and back to the top of the mountain where he ended up crashing against the nose of the carving.

Before I could do anything else, I heard something rumble like something was breaking apart. As I watched, I saw the mouth of the carving open, sending the demigod falling down into the darkness. The whole thing was unsettling, like he had fallen into the mouth of some ravenous beast. Still, I didn't come this far to turn back, and I could sense the light I was seeking was through that mouth. Pushing the handles forward, I sped into the mouth and into the darkness of whatever this Lalotai was.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

We had been on the ocean for a few days, and the two of us have had our share of misery and fun. I say misery because we've both had long exposure to the sun, and have gotten our share of burns as a result. My cousin was getting the worst of it to the point where he was as red as a boghudin fruit, but prolonged exposure was taking its toll on me too. I wish I had some sap that Grandpa would use on me from my childhood.

Thankfully, Hina was with us, and the goddess kept using the light of the moon to heal us once the sun went down. Moana was also helpful, as she showed us how to operate the boats we sailed on so we weren't a couple of incompetent fools. I could now tell the stay from the sheet, and she also applied coconut oil to us to try and help keep the burns down. The sky was beginning to brighten, so Hina's powers were going to start waning soon, and I was not looking forward to that.

As the chief of her people checked the ocean's currents with her hand, she said, "We're getting close. I remember the stars and currents from the last time I was here. It makes sense that he'd be there."

"So, lass, where are you taking us?" Scrooge asked.

"It seems that Maui has gone back to Lalotai."

"Maui?" Looking at Hina, I asked, "Is that your husband's name?"

"It is."

"But what is Lolly-time?" Jason asked.

"Lalotai." Moana corrected him. "Just the realm of monsters."

My blood froze at that. "Did you say, 'Realm of monsters'?"

"Yes."

Before we could say anything else, we heard a series of booms, like explosions. The chief rose her eyebrow. "What is that noise? There aren't any volcanoes this way."

"Explosions." As he answered, Jason looked in the direction they came from, determination replacing any other expression.

Standing on the boat she was on, Hina shut her eyes as if she was concentrating. To our surprise, the ocean swelled slightly around us, and surged forward carrying the boats with them. "Hina, what are you doing?" I asked her.

"Pushing the tide to carry us forward." The goddess answered. "Maui is involved with those explosions, and I'm not waiting any longer to get to him." From the strained look on her face, it seemed like she was forcing herself to be able to have this kind of power during the day. I hope she didn't hurt herself.

It didn't take long for us to see a large mountain loom out of the ocean like a massive fin of some sea monster. This talk of this Lalotai place was making me nervous because I had no idea what to expect. The monsters my Grandpa told me about had always sounded like the stuff of nightmares, and I was afraid the monsters in this world might be the same.

"Is that Laura-till?" Jason asked, pointing to the mountain.

"Lalotai." Scrooge corrected him.

"Whatever. Is that the monster realm?"  
"No. That's the entrance." The chief smirked.

"That's an entrance?" I asked.

The old duck laughed. "Oh, I haven't seen an entrance this challenging since that time I searched for cursed treasure in the lost city of-."  
"Not interested." Jason growled. Before Scrooge could retort, the boats ended up crashing against the shore of the island, throwing us off into the sand. Spitting out some sand that got into my mouth, I looked around for this entrance that would take us to Lalotai, but I didn't see it. And what was that strange sense of foreboding I felt? It felt… ancient, and powerful. And although it made me nervous, I couldn't help but feel something inside of me was being pulled towards it, like it was calling me. I swear by Gri that it's true.

Getting off her boat, Moana grabbed a rope and tied it to one of the rocks jutting out of the ground all around. Following her example, Scrooge seized the rope from our boat and tethered it to a rock as well. Hina joined them, though I noticed she had a hand pressed against her head, and she had to lean against one of the rocks for support. That stunt must've taken more out of her than she thought it would. "Hina, are you okay?" I asked.

"I'll be fine once we get up there." With that the goddess began to climb up the mountain, undeterred by the height. Moana began to follow her, with the rest of us following. After what felt like hours climbing up the mountain, I noticed I hadn't gotten tired. All logic says I should have, but I wasn't. That kind of freaked me out. It felt like I was still reenergized with one of the workout supplements back home, only on a more… spiritual level. Wait. This was magic I was feeling. I remember from my first time.

Radiant Garden. Two months, two weeks ago…

I was adjusting well to Radiant Garden. The clothes here were a little looser than what I was used to, but that strangely made them more comfortable. My cousin and I had to do things differently here, like opening doors manually and not having appliances be activated by voice command. All these things were irritating my cousin while, for some odd reason, I found myself enjoying them. Maybe it had something to do with this world having something I struggled with finding back home: Books. Not digital books to be read on a holo-screen, but actual real books, with covers and pages.

I was looking through a book I had gotten even though I was still learning the language of this world. It was strange to be able to understand what everyone was saying but be unable to read said language. This universal tongue thing had its shortcomings, and major inconveniences. Still, it was proving to be a fun challenge. Much better than learning every stupid element in existence for the umpteenth time.

While I kept trying to learn the language of this world, I paused in front of an old church building. It had gone through perdition like the rest of this world had, and yet it still seemed welcoming. Today, though, something was different. I could feel something calling me from within. I can't describe it, but it was like it was something I was missing, a part of me that I needed but did not have.

Following the part of me that said to go inside the building, I found empty pews that were still in good condition despite the gaping hole in the ceiling and the pillar on the far side that was lying on its side. A warm feeling filled my heart and soul, something I could only describe as light and peace. Tears came to my eyes because I felt like I had found a part of me that I didn't even know had been missing. Going to the flowers growing in the middle of the room, I just stood there, taking a breath as I soaked in the wonderful feelings I now had. It was like I was finally whole, that I had stepped into the presence of Gri, and had rejoined my ancestors in the plans of-.

"Clair?" A voice asked from behind me, jolting me out of my thoughts. Turning, I saw Aerith standing there with a basket of flowers.

Clearing my thoughts, I said, "Oh, Aerith. I'm sorry. I didn't mean-."  
"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Make the flowers grow."  
"I didn't… Gri's beak!" I gasped because the flowers were now halfway up my waist, and appeared to be brighter than they were before. "What happened?"

"When I walked in, I saw you glowing, and the flowers grew." Walking up to me, the woman added, "Clair, you have magic."

"Magic? But how?"  
"There's no way to explain the mystical in terms of science. Sometimes, the only way to understand something is to believe in it. Do you trust me, Clair?"  
I had to think about my answer. "Aerith, you've been good to me and my cousin ever since we've arrived here in Radiant Garden. There's a lot I don't understand about this world, but if you say magic is real, then… I trust you."

Those words made her smile. "You've taken a step in understanding. Let's go see Merlin now."

Present day...

"So, what exactly can we expect to face down in the realm of the monsters?" Scrooge was asking as he kept showing how fit he was for his age.

"Giant bats, monster fish, carnivorous plants." Moana began to list off. "And other creatures that would haunt your dreams for years."

Shaking his head, my cousin continued to climb up. "Let me be clear about something. The only monsters that exist are people who get on my nerves, and kaiju. I have not seen any kaiju since coming here and I do not expect to see any."

"What's a kaiju?" Moana asked.

"Giant monsters from where we're from." I explained. "Some are so big they can demolish mountains and cross islands in a few steps." My words must've spooked her because she let out a gasp. Looking up, I lost my words as I saw a crater in the side of the mountain, like something heavy had been thrown into the side of it. There were also scorch marks around the impact, like someone had thrown firecrackers at the mountain. "What happened here?"

"A battle." Jason said before looking up. "Let's go."  
Once we got to the top, I noticed my cousin was looking at something on the ground, and it made me gasp when I saw it. A stone face carved into the top that made me feel like it was trying to warn us away from this place. I got goosebumps just being around that thing. As soon as Hina got up with us, she did a little chant before jumping onto the nose. As the mouth opened, I found myself disliking the entrance even more. But there was still that pull within me.

"Let me go first." The goddess told as before leaping into the hole. Jason then followed her, as did Moana. I tried to get myself to follow, but that was a deep hole, and the mystical purple glow was…

"Gah!" I gasped as I was pushed forward. "Scrooge!"  
I swear the elder duck was smiling before he jumped in after me. He let out a cry as he did so, though I couldn't tell what. It sounded a lot like "Geranium!" As soon as he was in, the entrance closed, sealing us into darkness except for the purple glow below us.

As we fell, Hina held her hands up, and I felt gravity's effect lessen on me. When I hit the water, it felt the same as if I had jumped into an air-pool. All around were rings of purple lights intertwining with each other and making it seem like we were falling through a portal of some sort. It was quite beautiful to see, and I could feel magical energy flowing all around me as I fell through the water.

We exited out through another pool serving as the sky, but a quick glance upwards made me see the ocean from underneath. We were under the sea?! No time to worry about that now. I tried to grab a vine but I missed and thought I was going to crash against the ground. However, someone grabbed me from behind and kept me from falling flat against the ground. I saw Scrooge grab a vine with his cane, and after spinning three times did an impressive flip and nailed a perfect landing.

"It's okay. I've got you." Moana said as she helped me down. "You don't want to fall into a monster's mouth down here."  
"Did you?" I asked.

"Almost." She said after a moment, in a tone that told me not to ask anymore about it.

"Maui!" Hina gasped, dropping Jason on top of Scrooge. Turning, I saw her run towards a massive person covered with tattoos dressed in a skirt made of leaves.

My jaw dropped at the sight. "That's Maui? He's huge!"

"What are those markings on him?" Jason asked.

"Tattoos, lad." The old duck told him.

"What? Those things were outlawed two centuries ago."

"This isn't your world." That last part Scrooge spoke while using his hat to cover it up. Good thinking.

A groan from the big guy drew our attention back to him. "Maui?" Hina asked while he opened his eyes. Upon seeing her, he let out a scream that I didn't think someone of his build was capable of. "Don't move so much, you big baby."

"Maui. What happened? What did this to you?" Moana asked him.

"What are you doing here?" The demigod asked her before looking at us. "And who are they?"

"I brought them here, Maui. To look for you." The moon goddess told her husband.

Looking at her, he said, "Hina, I don't need help protecting mortals."

"Yet a monster defeated you. Again."

"It wasn… it was a big monster. Huge. Teeth made of obsidian, and eyes like lava."

"Hold up." Jason said. "You changed your response. It wasn't a monster that beat you, was it?"

"Look, kid-."  
"Jason."

"Whatever. I'm a shapeshifting demigod hero. I don't get beaten by anything other than monsters. Which is why I'm here in Lalotai. I'm going to hunt that monster down, and show him why I'm-."  
"Him?" The chief folded her arms at that.

"Yeah, there are male monsters. It's not like I can be beaten by a mortal."

"You were beaten by a mortal?" Hina asked her husband.

I looked at Moana. "Is that even possible?"

"No. At least, not until now." Was her answer.

Approaching him, Scrooge asked, "This not-mortal. Did he have a Keyblade perchance?"

"What?"

"Show him, Jason." Scrooge said.

Folding his arms, my cousin shook his head in agitation before holding his hand out. As soon as the Born Fighter came to his hand, the demigod let out a gasp and tried to back off until he was near his giant hook. Grabbing it, he pointed the weapon at my cousin.

"You're with him! That non-mortal who attacked me and forced his way down to Lalotai."

Dread filled me as I looked at him. "This non-mortal. Did he have red hair? Dark clothes?"

"That's him." Maui said before he realized what he admitted.

Jason frowned at that. "Mortem." Before anyone could stop him, he ran off into the dark foreboding realm of Lalotai.

* * *

 **This chapter was a lot of fun to write. I wanted to keep going until they encountered Tamatoa, but I decided to save it for the next chapter. Next one might be a little tricky to write as I'm trying to make sure the characters get some development in for everyone. I also need to figure out what goes on next for Braxton, Eini, Grace, and Johri.**

 **I also wanted to work on giving Clair some development because I feel so far Jason's been getting all the development, but I want them both to grow and become better.**


	8. Monster Problem

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

 **Special thanks to YamiChaos27 and Flautist4ever for looking over this chapter first.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Monster Problem

JASON'S POV

Through the dark forests and barnacle covered ground I moved. Mortem was here. A second chance to make him pay for what he did back on Radiant Garden. I wasn't going to let him get away this time no matter what. I had to stop a couple of times because I would step on a barnacle, but I was determined to find that punk and make him pay.  
"Jason! Oi! Jason!" I heard someone from behind me. Turning, I saw Scrooge McDuck coming towards me. "Oi, lad. What were you thinking running off like that?"  
"Mortem is somewhere here in Lalotai, and I'm going to find him." Was my response. "Don't try to talk me out of it."  
"No, but we need to talk about something else." Folding his arms, the duck continued, "You're being far too reckless for your own good. Your attitude is what ruined our trip to Agrabah."

"And your business opportunity."  
"Forget the opportunity. What I'm here to discuss is you. You can't expect to just be Darkwing Duck and have everything go your way. You were chosen by a Keyblade. That means you have bigger responsibilities than your personal grudge matches."

"Like what?"  
"Protecting all the worlds for one. And on a smaller scale, Clair. What would happen if something did you in? Curse me kilts, I've seen her fight and she still struggles with the basics. If you get yourself killed, how do you think that'll affect her? I'm no psychologist, but I can say if she loses you, she'll lose her only source of strength."  
Okay, I admit, his words did ring true in me. Clair was not a fighter, and I knew from experience that she could not hold her own. It wasn't just on Agrabah. It was back home…

Seven months ago…

Harthyn…

"Burrowing through some more old books, Bookworm?" One of the jerks was mocking Clair while he held it up. "You'd think that someone would have something better to do than looking at words on paper."  
"I can't believe even antique shops sell this old junk." Jezebel was saying while she held Clair back. "Only thing I can see them being useful for is arson starters."

Her eyes widened at that. "No! Give it back!"  
"Let's see how well you can read ashes." Pulling out a lighter, he held it close to the book so it would catch fire, but I wasn't going to let that happen. Rushing out, I slugged the guy across the face, making him drop both the lighter and the book.

"How about you try to light something that fights back?" I said, ready for a smackdown.

Jezebel smiled when she saw me. "Ah, it looks like the Hocamli girl can't hold her own. The descendant of Netokan's mighty warriors is in need of an invader's son."  
"Times change." I growled before I was attacked by the person I had just knocked down. He slugged me across the face, but it wasn't something I hadn't experienced before. Spitting, I tackled the guy, hitting him in the kidneys while he did the same to me. Grunting, I decided to end this and kicked him in the-.

"Hold it." A mechanical voice said. "Violence is restricted. Please cease such poor behavior and return to your homes." Some security drones flew over to us, shining lights on me and the guy I was currently beating up.

Knowing better than to fight drones that could disable an armed thug, I backed away from the guy and picked up Clair's book. Jezebel and her punk looked at each other before they left the scene. Walking over to my cousin, I handed her the book she had bought before saying, "I can't keep doing this forever. Sooner or later, you need to start standing up for yourself."

Even after that incident, Clair hadn't gotten better at standing up for herself. I was getting worried that she wasn't going to be able to stand up for herself, especially with all the madness we were facing now. With a sigh, I looked at the old duck. "What would you suggest I do?"

"Let's go back to the others and formulate a plan…" His voice trailed off as he took a sniff and then his eyes lit up. "Gold!" With that, Scrooge ran off, resulting in me following him.

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

This underworld place was crazy. Barnacles, killer palm trees, bats with eight eyes. I was finding myself disliking this place more than that stupid kid. Resolving to wrap up business here as fast as possible, I focused on the light that had brought me here and headed towards it.

As I walked, I found myself approaching what appeared to be a cave shaped like a conch shell. Looking inside, I saw a huge mound of gold lying in the middle of the room surrounded by scattered pieces of treasure all around. While that didn't interest me, I had to pay attention because I could see the light I was searching for was in that pile. Wait a minute. I could also see a mass of darkness underneath that gold. Rubbing my eyes to make sure my eyes weren't tricking me, I began to step inside when I heard someone giving out cries of glee.

Ducking behind a broken piece of coral, I saw the old duck from Agrabah running up with that stupid idiot behind him. Was he wearing a skirt? That made me raise an eyebrow as I was unsure of whether I should laugh or roll my eyes. From where I was hiding, I saw the old duck jump at the sight of the treasure. "Gold! Bless me bagpipes!"

"That's what you came running for, Scrooge? Gold?" Jason asked the old duck.

"Of course, lad. I'm not about to pass up an opportunity to become even richer." So the bird has a weakness for wealth. That could be useful information. With a hoot and a click of his heels, Scrooge ran towards the pile and to my surprise dove right in. He then surfaced, swimming through the gold like anyone would swim through water. Pausing, he began to put pieces of gold inside his pockets and top hat.

If I didn't act now he might take whatever it was that I had come to get. Firing a dark fireball that blasted against the side of the pile of treasure scattering coins and other items, I stepped out from my hiding place. "Back off. That treasure is not yours, duck."

"Mortem." Getting into a fighting stance, the kid growled, "Now it's payback time for making us look bad in Agrabah and Radiant Garden."  
Rolling my eyes, I glared at him. "Are you still on that? You should be thankful I didn't tear you limb from limb. Get your priorities straight."  
"You messed up my priorities when you destroyed my ticket home."

"Look you imbecile! I didn't destroy your stupid device because I wanted to! I did it because I was ordered to! If I had it my way, I would've left it alone, if only so you'd be out of my hair. But my...associate really didn't want you to return home. I don't know why, and quite frankly I don't care. I've got bigger problems than dealing with a whiny brat like you! 'Oh, you destroyed my ticket home! I'm gonna make you pay!' Why don't you stop embarrassing yourself and just grow up?!"

"What? Who ordered you to? You know what? Never mind. Way I see it, it's your fault for forcing us into locoworld, facing monsters and magic that shouldn't even exist. I'm wearing this stupid lavalava skirt thing because you trashed that device!"

"You think you have problems?! Well yours pale in comparison to mine! You can't even be angry for the right reasons! Do you really think you can stand up to MY wrath?! Here let me show you what real rage is!" With that, I called forth Vengeful Chaos to strike him down, but something happened. As my weapon appeared in my hands, it changed into a large scythe that caught even me by surprise. Not that it mattered what form it was in. Lifting it up, I swung the weapon at the idiot, knocking him back.

As he landed on his back, he worked on getting up while his Keyblade appeared in his hands, charging forward as he did. With a roll of my eyes I sidestepped him and used my scythe to trip him, giving him a cut along the legs as I did. As he fell over, I found myself wondering if I should've just cut an artery or two. Forcing himself back up, he glared at me while he threw his weapon, which landed in a pathetic fashion at my feet.

"Why won't you just quit? You can see you're outmatched here." I scorned him.

Eyes narrowing, he responded, "I've never backed down from a fight before and I'm not planning on starting today."

As I thought about his words, it dawned on me. "You just can't handle the situation you're in, can you? You're just trying desperately to run away from it like a coward, instead of facing it like a man. Is that it? You disgust me. That Keyblade of yours really has chosen poorly."

"I am not a coward!" With a snarl he ran towards me despite the cuts I gave him. I began to think this guy could take a beating and then some. Not that it mattered. If he wanted to die, then I was going to have to disobey orders.

Swinging my weapon to cut him in two, I found myself surprised when he actually managed to parry my blow. Lucky shot. Had to be. Bringing my scythe back around, I managed to cut him on the chest, but he had the sense to leap back before I did any real damage. Eyes narrowing, he ran forward swinging his Keyblade. I managed to block him, but then he dismissed it, ran forward, and gave me an uppercut. "Still think I'm a coward?"

As I fell backwards, I snarled while I sent my weapon to my other hand and swung it at him. At this close a range I only succeeded in hitting him with the pole, but that still felt good to do. As he fell, I tried to move the blade so it would cut him up some more. Calling forth his Keyblade he managed to keep himself from getting decapitated by me, but now I had the upper hand. Kicking him in the stomach, I ended up forcing him to the ground while dark energies swirled around me.

As I raised my scythe to strike him down, the craziest thing happened. A massive claw reached out and grabbed both me and Jason, which resulted in both of our weapons getting dismissed. As we were lifted up, I saw the duck called Scrooge dive back into the pile of gold, pulling his hat down with him as the pile was also rising. Wait. Piles of gold don't rise. I watched as several legs appeared from underneath, one which looked like had been torn off a long time ago, while a head with a pair of eyes on stalks looked at us. "What? More humans? What is going on here?"

"What the?" I asked, more confused than anything. That pile of gold was in fact the back of a giant talking coconut crab?

Groaning, Jason said, "Oh great. More magic stuff."

"What are you two doing in the realm of the monsters?" The crab asked. "And did you think that you could steal the treasure of the great and shiny Tamatoa?"

"Who?" I asked.

Both eyes looked at me at that. "Tamatoa. The greatest crab who ever lived. Collector of all things shiny and valuable. That's me." Eyes narrowing, his other claw reached for my medallion. "Interesting piece you have there."  
"Claws off." I said while firing a dark fireball at the crab's eye. With a growl, the monster dropped us while he rubbed the spot where I hit him. Realizing this was my chance, I leapt up onto the back of the monster, earning a cry of surprise from the duck that was hiding in the gold. With a swing of my Keyblade as it materialized in my hand I knocked the miser away and scanned the crab's back for whatever it was that brought me here.

Ducking from a swing of the claws, I then saw something just in front of me that seemed to be the source of the light. Grabbing it, I leapt off the back of the crab while I stole a look at what I just took. Hmmm. A locket, shaped like a heart. I almost threw it away when I remembered it had a light similar to the princess of Agrabah's heart. This is connected to the hearts of light. I know it.

Opening a Corridor of Darkness, I stepped into it, leaving the idiots to their fate.

* * *

JASON'S POV

Not again! I was beating Mortem and he turns and runs again, leaving me with the old duck and the giant… whatever that thing was. Tamatoa, that's what it said its name was. And I could tell the theft of some of his treasure is making him incredibly angry. "Thieves! Robbers! You dare to rob me of my treasure?!"

"Hey, we're not with that guy! We're trying to stop him!" I said while Scrooge picked himself up from where he was.

"And you failed. Now you shall feel my wrath, thieves!" With that, Tamatoa hit Scrooge so hard he knocked the old duck against the wall, and I wasn't sure if he was fit enough to take a blow like that. Frowning, I charged forward at the giant monster, or shrimpy as he was nowhere near as big as the kaiju I've seen. Still, I could tell this was going to be a tough fight.

As he came running towards me with speed I didn't anticipate, I tried to roll under him and attack one of his legs. He leaped back and hit me with one of his claws. Frowning, I watched as Tamatoa smiled while walking towards me, lifting a claw to attack me again. Holding up my Keyblade, I attempted to block him but ended up getting forced back again.

Yelling in frustration, I ran forward and struck one of his claws with my Keyblade, but that also failed as he simply grabbed it and threw me against the wall again. Groaning, I wasn't sure how much more I could take of this. I was feeling lightheaded, and took that as a sign that I was losing too much blood. No. I won't let fear take me. I didn't come here just to get killed by a stupid monster and some cuts from a fight.

Forcing myself back up, I grunted as Tamatoa grabbed me with his claw and lifted me up. "Now you see what happens to those who try to steal my treasure." He chuckled as he opened his mouth. Realizing what he was planning, I tried to jab my Keyblade into the crab's claw but my weapon just bounced off him. No. My eyes widened with horror as that mouth got closer and closer…

"Hey!"

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I had never seen a monster like that one that was trying to eat my cousin, and I had been surprised that Moana called out to it. "Tamatoa! Remember me? The mortal who tricked you before?"

"You." Tossing Jason to where Scrooge was, the monster advanced at us. "I can never forget you. You made me think a barnacle was the Heart of Te Fiti, and then left me lying on my back while you escaped. Do you have any idea how hard it is for a crab to get back on his feet?"

"You had that coming." Maui said while he held his hook up, which had purple glyphs appear all along it. "And guess who can use his hook again?"

"I'll be sure to add it to my collection once I pry it from your hands again." The crab creature threatened as he advanced with speed I didn't think was possible. I knew kaiju could move fast, but with all that weight on his back he should've been slowed by it. Grabbing me, Maui dove to the right while Hina and Moana dove to the left.

The monster turned to look at the chief and the goddess, but the demigod wouldn't have it. "Hey, crabcake! How about I rip off another of your legs?" That succeeded in getting his attention as the crab turned to us and raised one of his claws. Raising his hook, Maui swung it at our opponent, parrying it and then releasing a wave of energy that knocked several of us back. "Kid, I hope you're good in a fight."

"Not really." I admitted. I had only just gotten the hang of one spell, and given that we were in some sort of underworld with the ocean above us, I don't think it was going to be much use.

"Then you'd better learn fast." The demigod told me as Tamatoa swung another of his claws at us. Moving his hook in a way that I thought was supposed to be an attack, I gasped when I saw Maui change into a giant hawk. Flying up to the crab, Maui raked his eyes with those talons. Roaring in pain, the monster took a few steps back while I charged forward and moved underneath him. Gri, I hope this works.

"Fire." I said, casting the spell up at the crab's soft underside. At least I hope the underside was soft. A cry of pain and a large jump told me my answer was yes. Running so I wouldn't get crushed by the weight of the monster as he came back down, I watched as Maui changed back into a man and brought his hook down on the monster's back. Tamatoa turned to face him, snarling as he did.

As I cast another Fire spell, I found myself wondering about what had happened with Jason's fight. My fire spell and attacks from Maui hit, but his physical attacks didn't seem to make a dent. How does that work? The demigod's been using physical attacks… unless… Maui's attacks are more magical than physical. Tamatoa must be impervious to physical blows! But what could I do? I don't think enough fire spells were going to be enough to stop him.

Looking over to where Moana and Hina were looking over Scrooge and Jason, seeing him cut up and beaten like that… something changed inside of me. He had been there as long as I could remember, protecting me from bullies. I couldn't believe there was someone he couldn't beat, and the thought that this monster had been close to devouring him when we got to his cave… it was something I wasn't going to forgive.

"Enough." Tamatoa said as he hit the side of his cave, causing it to go dark until he lit up with a blue body with pink markings on his head. That almost made him more terrifying in a way while he grabbed Maui and threw him towards me, knocking both of us back before I could react.

As he advanced closer, Maui got off and leapt at him with a mighty cry that sounded like, "Cheeehooo!" As he did, he hit the crab on the back, scattering coins and unleashing another wave. That gold had to be a source of Tamatoa's strength, but maybe it could also be a weakness. While I fired a couple of fire spells, the crab turned it attention to me. Knocking the demigod aside, he grabbed me and lifted me up into the air just as I had seen him do with Jason.

"Nothing like a snack to give you a boost." The monster said as he released me, resulting in me falling towards that mouth. No. Jason said I would have to stand up for myself someday, and that day was today. Gathering all my focus I prepared to fire one last fire spell. However, as I put my hand forward to cast the spell, something else happened.

A surge of energy and bright light from my hand blasted the crab back while I went flying backwards. As I crashed and slid down the wall, I realized I was now holding on to something. As I used the light of the glowing algae to see, I gasped as I realized I was now holding a Keyblade of my own! "Gri's beak!" I'm sorry to say this made me take the name of my deity in vain, but I was shocked. The blade was made of intertwining colors like the rainbow forming an infinity sign while a sun, moon, and three stars formed the teeth. The hilt was made of white and black arms that almost seemed to symbolize balance while a small crystal orb was connected at the end.

"What the perdition?" Jason asked from where he was. I don't blame him because this was mind blowing. I HAD A KEYBLADE! And it was so beautiful to look at. Hey, it's the colors. They were much more beautiful than that horrible monster.

"Oh, that will look lovely with my collection." The crab said as he reached for it, but it seemed to renew my energy and magic at the same time. Leaping over Tamatoa's claw, which surprised me because I had never pulled off that kind of move before, I ran to the other side and looked back at him.

Holding my Keyblade, Guiding Light, up, I told the crab. "You don't choose a Keyblade. It chooses you. Don't ask how I know that." Holding it up, I felt another spell come to me. I wasn't sure how as I haven't come across that spell in my studies. "Thunder!"

As I cast the spell, I saw a bolt of lightning come down from what looked like the roof of the cave towards my target. As the electricity hit the monster, he roared in pain from the attack while I remembered something important from science class: gold was an excellent conductor of electricity. Smiling, I cast the spell a few more times while the demigod attacked with his hook.

After another minute or two, Tamatoa staggered as he struggled to stay on his feet, giving the impression that he had too much to drink. While I held my new weapon up, Maui lowered it for me while shaking his head. With a groan, Tamatoa's eyes rolled up while he fell forward, crashing against the ground with enough force to rival a small tremor. I almost fell forward, but the demigod caught me. "Easy, kid."

"That… that was…" looking up at Maui I couldn't help but smile. "Awesome."

"You're certainly something else." He said while we went to check on our friends. Scrooge was rubbing his head while Jason's cuts had scabbed over thanks to Hina's powers. The goddess, however, looked drained.

Looking at the moon goddess, I asked, "Are you okay?"  
"I will be, once the moon rises." She said while looking at me.

"We managed to clean their wounds." Moana said, "But I don't think it would be wise to stay in Lalotai any longer than we need to."

Nodding, Maui gave the order. "Let's move it."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

As much as I wanted to leave with my prize, I decided to stay and watch the fight. It had proven to be amusing to watch that moron get his butt handed to him by a giant crab with a golden back. But for the girl and Muscle Man to step in and save him… that had made the event better. What I still couldn't believe was that she could use a Keyblade too, and it seemed to be amplifying the magic skills she had. If I wasn't careful, she might become a threat. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Looking at the locket, I opened it up to see there were seven slots inside it. That couldn't be a coincidence. This was the answer to my problem of how I was going to carry around the hearts. Now I had to go and get them. Reopening the Corridor of Darkness, I entered it and left this primitive world behind.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I'm going to be honest. Riding a geyser through the ocean to get out of a realm of monsters may not have been the safest way, but it was sure a lot of fun. As we crashed against the sand, I looked around still amazed at what I did. "We survived the realm of monsters, and took down a giant crab."  
"That, kid, is accomplishment right there. Knowing you did something you didn't think you could." Maui said. "Keep it up, and you might make a good hero someday. And this is coming from a professional Hero to All."

I looked at Maui, but gasped at what I saw. One of his tattoos was waving at me! A tattoo of himself was no longer lassoing the sun, but was jumping up and down like it was congratulating me. "Uh, Maui? Your tattoo."

Looking down, the demigod rolled his eyes before flicking his tattoo. "That's enough, tiny. Let's not give her a big ego."  
Jason was looking away sullenly, in a way that someone would think he lost a pet of his. Which given how Uncle Kendall is, I wouldn't put it past him. He must be sour about losing a fight that I had won. That was strange because I thought he'd be proud of my accomplishment.

"So you survived a realm of monsters, and came out stronger for it." A voice said. Turning, I gasped as I saw someone in a black cloak standing up on the rocks.

"Who are you?" I asked, though there was something familiar about the voice.

Looking at me, the figure said, "That is not important. What's important is how much this world echoes the cosmos itself. Places of light where gods dwell and protect mortals, and pockets of darkness where nightmares roam. Such complexity when mankind is still so simple."

Taking up her oar, Moana asked, "What do you want?"  
"You are Moana, chief of Motunui, are you not?" The figure turned her way. "I've come to offer you a deal. Bring me the Heart of Te Fiti within ten days, and your parents will be returned to you. Refuse, and they shall become Heartless themselves. And you will watch as they destroy your island and your people."

* * *

 **I hope I didn't make Jason too pathetic here. I'm trying to make this a major factor in his character development, by having him realize that he can't do things the way he's used to anymore. The only I could think of where he would learn that was if he got beaten. Badly.**

 **As for the fight with Tamatoa, I remember certain lines within the song from the film where it sounded like he was saying he was stronger than armies. That just got me thinking of making that the giant crab was impervious to physical attacks, but using magic based moves would be effective.**

 **And now Clair has her Keyblade. I've been trying to think of a place for her to get one, and decided to do it here when she took a stand to protect her cousin. I just hope I'm not making her a Mary Sue.**


	9. A Change in the Tide

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever for helping me edit this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 9

JASON'S POV

Motunui…

We were all sailing in silence, and I had a feeling most of us were thinking about the deal the person in black offered Moana. Well, that was only part of what was on my mind. The rest of it was thinking about that dumb fight with Mortem and that monster Tamatoa, and how I couldn't do a worbazz thing against them. I was hurting, and not just physically. Was it always going to be like this? Opponents I couldn't beat?

I could hear raised voices from the other boat. Maui and Hina's. Surprise surprise. A married couple arguing. Who'da thought?. Arguing about who was right, complaining about each other's faults, treating everything that went wrong like a cataclysm. Reminding me of why I did not want to get involved in that lifestyle.

"You thrive on this sort of trouble." The moon goddess was saying.

"Oh, come on." The demigod groaned. "I don't thrive on this kind of trouble."  
"Every time you brag about how great you are, you talk about this dangerous incident or that dangerous incident. What makes it worse is you talk about them like you managed them all by yourself."

"I did do them all by myself. I caught that sun with my hook."  
"Using a rope made from _MY_ hair."

"I killed Te Tunaroa when he was eyeing you."

"While I had him distracted. And if I hadn't shown you where to bury his guts, humans never would've had the coconuts they do now."

"Oh, come on. I would've figured it out."  
"Like you figured out how to steal my face?"

"Enough!" Moana snapped at them. "This isn't about you two. My parents are gone and my people are in danger, and the only way I can save them is to put the entire world in danger."

Looking at the divine couple, Scrooge added, "Aye, I agree with the lass. What's on her shoulders is more important than your little squabble. Whatever issues you have can wait until after we stop this maniac."

The chief looked at him. "Maniac?"  
"Someone who is crazy."

"Then yes. That person is a maniac."

"Right now we know we don't want them to get the heart of…" I trailed off unsure of how to say the name.

"Te Fiti."

"Te Fiti, yeah."

Scrooge looked at me. "What are you saying?"

"That we need a plan."

* * *

By the time night had fallen we had spent most of the day sailing to Motunui and coming up with a plan to save Moana's parents. It seemed like a good plan, but there was still a lot that could go wrong. No. Couldn't think like that. This plan had to work. It had to!

Staring up at the night sky, I found myself thinking about each star. What was the story behind each one? Where they all as primitive as this world and Agrabah, or did some of them advance beyond even Harthyn? Why was I wondering this stuff? It shouldn't matter to me one bit. So why were these questions popping into my head?

I heard water moving to the side in the manner that reminded me it was alive in this world too, which annoyed me. "Okay, you're alive, ocean. I get it. Can you leave me alone?"

"Actually, I wanted to speak with you." For a second I thought it was the ocean speaking before I realized it was Moana. I watched as the ocean placed her on the boat I was on before receding back into itself.

Looking at the chief, I asked her, "What is it?"

"We're taking a risk with this plan." She explained as she approached me. "If anything goes wrong, I could lose my parents and my people. Given how you acted earlier today I don't believe I can trust you with this."  
"Hey, I helped make the plan!"

"And I thank you for that. But you're rash, and don't think things through. If something goes wrong my people could suffer for it, and as the chief that is something I cannot allow. My home and my people must come first."  
"At least you can go home!"

She was silent at that. "What do you mean?"  
"Clair and I… we were kind of blown away from home. We had a way to get back, but it was destroyed." Looking at her, I continued, "Right now the only way I know of to get back home is to find the one responsible and make him pay."

"Have you asked the gods to guide you home?" She asked me.

That made me smile a little. "Our people don't really give any thought to the divine or faith."  
The expression on her face… you'd think I told her I killed her favorite pet or something. "How could anyone live life without faith?"

"That's not the point, is it? To this conversation." Looking in her eyes, I said, "You don't want me to help with the rescue at all."

"Because I can't trust you to work with us. You act like you're the only one who's been wronged. One of the things I learned about being the chief is everyone has problems, but they will often look to their leaders for guidance and solutions. You shouldn't be afraid to share the burdens you carry with those you trust."  
"If I have any burdens, it's due to having to face things I'm not used to. A living ocean, talking monsters, goddesses and demigods. At least back home I can live with what I know."

"Is that you're only reason for going home?" Moana asked me, and when I looked in her eyes I didn't see contempt or pain. What I was was genuine concern. "Do you have anything else waiting for you back home?"  
"Just… my parents. My mom." Looking down I thought about her, and my father.

* * *

Eight years ago…

Harthyn…

"Kendall, no! That was years ago! This is his future we're talking about!" Mom was protesting against Dad.

Dad's voice echoed through our apartment. "Joan, he needs to be strong, and everything he's been into is not helping him be a man."

"He's only a child! Barely over six!" I heard Mom pleading with him, before I heard her trying to block Dad's way. "You can't make him something he's not!"  
"Watch me!" Dad shouted. There was a heavy shuffling of feet followed by a thud, and I heard Mom cry out in pain. "I said this is not open for debate!" I heard him leave his room and march down the hall. Grabbing the robot toy Uncle Thomas gave me, I held it close as he entered my room. "Put that thing away, Jason. Training starts now."  
"Training? For what?" I asked him.

"Boot camp. Later the army."  
"I don't want to train for boot camp."  
"You need to. It'll be the best course for your future, and then you'll show what we Normans are made of."  
"No. I don't-." At that everything happened in a flash, but my cheek stung and felt hot while I ended up sprawled on the floor while Dad stood over me, hand raised. My toy fell out of my hands and I reached for it, but Dad got it first.

Looking at me, Dad said, "Jason Duncan Norman. When I say you're going to train for your future, you're going to train for your future. That means you can't bother with childish nonsense like Robo-Man here." As he raised it up I screamed for him not to, but before my eyes Dad banged it against the wall again and again until it was broken into a hundred pieces that could never be reassembled. "It's time you became a man, Jason."

* * *

Just when I thought I couldn't hate my dad any more, he went and took complete control of my life. True to his word he cleared out my room and replaced it with his idea of decor, and playtime was replaced with training. My clothes ceased to be comfortable as they were replaced by itchy tight workout uniforms. Even my hair, which had been growing back these last few months, was always cut so short I might as well have been bald. He would even wake me up after a few hours of sleep just to get in several hours of hard training. He always said this was for my good, but I never felt good about it. My childhood was taken from me and I had been unable to do anything about it. To this day I still hate that man.

"What about your father?" Moana asked.

My expression must've told her off because she started to back away. "... I'm not exactly close with him." I found myself admitting. Why was my mouth on autopilot. "He's… done nothing but mold me into a mindless drone for eight long years."

"What's a drone? Is that bad?"

"Yes it's bad! A drone is some person or object that does nothing but obey every order given without question. They are taught not to have minds or personalities, just obedience. He took away everything I liked, and forced me to like what he thought was good for me even when I told him I couldn't stand it! I've never been allowed to discover things for myself. I was told to do things a certain and if I didn't…" I trailed off, unable to finish that sentence because it brought back so many painful memories that I hated. Turning, I sat down on the edge of the boat and stuck my feet in the water.

I didn't look up as I heard feet approaching me, but I did notice the chief take a seat next to me. "If you hate him that much, then why didn't you go to your chief for help?"  
"... It's not our chief's responsibility to handle problems like that."  
"Then you have a poor chief. But if you can't get help with your father, then why are you even trying to get back?"

"It's the only place I know that makes sense. And… my mother..."

"Your people don't make much sense to me, but I can see your mother means so much to you if you're willing to go back for her." Moana said as she looked at the horizon. "One thing I've learned is you can't help the people you're responsible for until you've figured yourself out. Maybe, for now, you're not supposed to go back. I think it may be the will of the gods that you were blown away to find out who you are."

I couldn't help but think about her words. Who am I? I thought I knew, but what she said was making me think I didn't. For all these years even though I went through with the training Dad wanted, Mom still provided some ways to fight back with my music. Even though I got into fights all the time, I knew that wasn't what I wanted to do forever. But how could I find out who I was? "What if… what if I don't know what it is I want? What if I don't know who I am, as you put it?"

"Then… I say you should find the answers to those questions." Getting up, she said, "I hope you find what you're looking for."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

As we returned to the island of Motunui, I couldn't help but feel nervous. We wouldn't be coming back to a warm reception. We were going to be negotiating with someone who made me feel like a kaiju was going to step on me. But I had to be strong. Moana was counting on me.

The closer we got to the island, the more my angst grew. I could see a village in the distance, with people starting to get up to go about their activities for the day. But on the shore, a black oval appeared on the sand, and out stepped the figure from before, dragging two people that could only be Moana's parents.

As the boats landed, we proceeded to get off but the figure spoke. "The child chief only." I waited for Jason to protest, to argue with the person. After a few seconds, when Moana stepped off the boat and onto the sand, I realized something: he wasn't going to say anything. That wasn't like Jason at all. What happened to him?

"My parents." Moana said.

"The Heart of Te Fiti." The figure said as some of the Heartless we faced before appeared around the hostages. "Or your parents become monsters."

Opening the seashell necklace around her neck, Moana took something out and held it in her hand. Approaching the figure, she was stopped by one of the Heartless. "Give the Heartless the heart." The figured ordered her, which she complied. Once it had it, the Heartless stepped back and the figure released the grip on her parents. Taking the heart from the Heartless, the person looked at it. "Fascinating. Who would've thought something so bland could be so powerful."  
"Bland? You have no idea." The item in the figure's hand said as it changed back into Maui with a mighty "Cheeehooo!" Grabbing one of the Heartless with his hook, the demigod threw it into another, knocking them down before he swung at the figure. The cloaked person leapt back, and as they did Maui grabbed Moana's parents and tossed them at us. Hina had to use her powers to make sure they landed softly.

With a growl the figure asked, "You dare?"

"I am Moana of Motunui. I sailed across the ocean to restore the Heart of Te Fiti. I'm not going to put my people in danger again." The chief said as she held up her oar.

Turning to her, the cloaked figure growled, "You just did." With a snap of their fingers… oh no. Not a big one. This Heartless was huge, almost kaiju size. It seemed to resemble an eagle, but with a serrated beak, and… four legs? What? "Chaos Eagle, destroy the island and all who dwell on it."

With a cry, the Heartless took off from the ground and began soaring to the village. Grabbing her oar, Moana took off towards the village with Maui not far behind her. I won't lie, that Heartless scared me unlike any others I had faced before, but I knew what I had to do. Summoning my Keyblade, I ran with Scrooge to face the monster.

As the Chaos Eagle flew towards the village, Maui let his "Cheehoo" battle cry, and with a swing of his hook changed himself into a massive hawk. As I watched the demigod flew up to the Heartless and changed himself back into his regular tattooed form. With a huge swing he sliced off several feathers from one of the wings, sending it crashing to the ground while he changed back into a hawk.

As he flew down, the rest of us charged forward and began to attack the Heartless while it was on the ground. Scrooge leapt on top of the back of the Heartless and began whacking it with his cane while Moana hit it with her oar. That thing was more effective than I would've believed, as it did some damage to the Heartless. Changing back into his human form, Maui brought his hook down on the monster and from the screech it gave I knew the attack was effective.

Taking a breath, I ran forward with my Keyblade, and began to unleash my attacks on the monster. Jab, jab, slice. Jab, jab, slice. Then, without warning, the Chaos Eagle spread its wings and knocked us off its back. As I crashed against some sort of palm tree, the Heartless turned towards me, and raised its head. Oh no. Was this it?

As the beak came towards me, someone tackled me from the side, knocking me out of the way. As we rolled, I gasped while the beak made contact with the tree I was leaning against not too long ago. As I looked, I was surprised to see it was Jason. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping you safe." He said as his Keyblade appeared in his hand. "I think it's time I tried working with others."

"I thought I told you to wait on the boat." Moana said as she looked at us.

Looking at the chief, my cousin said, "Last I checked the plan didn't take into account the giant avian Heartless threatening your people, and us."

"He's got a point." Maui said, which earned him a glare from the chief. "What?"

Looking at Moana, I said, "Can we argue about this later? Like when this thing isn't a threat to your people?"

Nodding in understanding, Moana readied her oar while we all prepared to continue fighting this thing. As it screeched, it reached out with its sharp talons and attempted to slice us with them, but we managed to dodge while Maui changed himself into a shark of all creatures. Sinking his teeth into the foot of the Heartless, it flapped its wings while it tried to shake the demigod off.

Leaping up, Moana jabbed the tip of her oar into the monster's foot, earning a cry as it tried to shake her off. Charging forward, Jason sliced into a leg, leaving a large cut on it while I cast a Fire spell at the Heartless. Leaping and running up its back, Scrooge managed to reach the head of the Chaos Eagle, and with a grunt jabbed his cane into its eye.

I expected some sort of counter attack while we continued to fight it, but instead it folded its wings around it and began to curl up into a ball. I thought it was giving up… wait. What's that strange sense? Oh no. It was darkness gathering around the Heartless. "It's going to attack!" My warning came too late as it let out a blast of darkness that hit all of us, sending us flying back while the trees creaked and groaned, bending over like they were trying to break themselves.

* * *

JASON'S POV

Ow. That is painful. As I struggled to get up, I cast a look on the others, and saw that that last attack had really done some damage. Everyone was lying on the ground, covered with scratches and bruises. And then I saw Clair. My cousin. She looked as if she had taken a full blast, and her condition… I wasn't a medic, but I could tell it was serious.

Clenching my fists, I turned to the Heartless, remembering what the person said not too long ago.

* * *

I had been waiting on the boat while the plan went south, but I was trying to do what the chief had said. She didn't want me involved, so I wasn't going to get involved. Still, I hated sitting here while the others risked their lives to fight this new threat. I half-expected the figure to attack me, but they didn't. "Well? Aren't you going to attack me?"

"Believe me. I want to, but I have orders." The figure said. "You're still needed alive."  
"Why? What's so special about me?"

"Beats me. All I'll say is I was told not to harm you."

That was intriguing. "So you're not the head here."

"No. The head is so smart they're in control of all the pieces. So even if you do win, you will lose. Judging from how you're just sitting here instead of helping, I'd say you've already lost. The Jason I know would be kicking that monster's butt by now."

Huh? "How do you know anything about me? Just who are you?"

"Spoilers." With that, the person opened a black oval behind them, and they vanished into it. I couldn't believe what I just heard. They spoke like they knew who I was, and what was this about losing even if we win? Was someone manipulating us? I couldn't understand all this, but a cry from my cousin got my attention.

It looked like the Heartless was giving them a run for their money, and even with the four of them they were barely holding their own. Seeing them struggle, not being able to gain an upper hand over their opponent, I couldn't just stand back. Something inside me screamed that I had to disobey what I was told, even though my body refused to listen. Upon hearing Clair scream again, that broke whatever resistance was in me, and I ran over to help my family.

* * *

Something wasn't right. There was something more going on, and I had to find out what. And I wasn't going to do that by getting beaten by some overgrown bird, especially one that was trying to kill my family. Getting over to her, I grabbed her by the shoulders. However, as I did, something strange happened. A green light surrounded the two of us, and then two green stones appeared. As I watched I then felt stronger, like I was being rejuvenated, and before my eyes I saw the injuries disappear from Clair's body.

She then sat up with a gasp and realized what was going on. "What's going on? What's this energy? What are those rocks?"

"I don't know, but- whoa!" I gasped as stones went flying to our Keyblades, and attached themselves to the end. AS a result, they both ended up changing. The guards seemed to transfer into rolling waves of the sea, while the blade ended up bearing a strong resemblance to Moana's oar handle. The end of the blade ended up resembling Maui's hook, though on a smaller scale. Two words then came into my mind. Divine Way. I don't know why, but it seemed to fit.

"Maui!" Clair said, and turning I could see the demigod was on his feet, holding his hook and glaring at the Heartless. Moana and Scrooge were also getting up, though they were also looking at our new Keyblades with wonder.

Looking at us, Maui told us, "Follow my lead. Cheehoo!" He cried out as leapt up at the monster, bringing his hook down on its head. The two of us ran forward, slicing at the legs of the Heartless while Maui continued to attack from the head. We continued to hack and slash, trying to wear it down until it blew us back with another dark energy attack, although this wasn't as strong as the last one. That could only mean one thing: We were wearing it down. Then, with one final blow from all of us, we took down the Heartless. As it fell, the crystalline heart flew up into the sky.

As the battle ended I found myself face-to-face with Moana. "I know, I know. I disobeyed you, but I couldn't just stand there."  
"The glory was too much to resist?" The chief asked me.

"It wasn't to look good. I only helped because… I just couldn't let anyone get hurt." Looking up, I said, "I'll accept whatever fate you deem fit, but I will always make that choice." I waited for her decision, though I'm pretty sure I was going to get the same treatment that I got in Agrabah.

Instead, what happened was, "I see. If you hadn't joined in, we might not be here and my people would've been killed. I still think you're reckless, but if the gods were willing to step in and help who am I to argue?"

Clair blinked at that. "Excuse me? Gods? Like Hina?"

"Yes, like me." The goddess said as she caught up. "I knew I was right in coming to get help from you two, and I have seen there's at least one goddess who agrees with me."

Clair blinked at that. "Who?"

"You'll meet her someday." Was all she said. "For now, be glad she deemed you worthy of her gift."

I then noticed Scrooge had an eye closely observing the stone that was now attached to my Keyblade. "Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I'm sure I could make some cash off of stones like these."

Pulling my weapon away from him, I said, "It's not for sale."

"B-but the profits."

"Still no."

* * *

As we left Motunui in the Gummi, I looked at the stone that I had removed from my Keyblade. It was green, but it also looked as if it was glowing through some bioluminescence. There was also a prominent spiral in the middle of it. Who would've given these stones to us?

"Please, dear. Just one customer?" Scrooge was asking my cousin.

"One customer and I'll never see it again. Besides, I'm pretty sure this goddess didn't give them to us to sell them." My cousin was reasoning.

"You don't know that for sure."

As they went on, a light began flashing on the dashboard. Looking over it, I hit the button below it and Cid's face appeared on the window. "There you are. What happened to you? You disappeared off the map."

"Cid." Scrooge said. "We found an uncharted world. Had a great adventure."  
"Well, while you were adventuring, the old coot got a message. You three are needed at the Mysterious Tower, and you need to get there yesterday."

* * *

 **I know a lot of focus was on Jason in this chapter, but I'm trying to work on developing his character here. Now we have a little of his backstory, so it should be a little clearer as to why he's the way he is.**

 **As for the argument between Hina and Maui, I thought it would be funny to have them argue like a couple. I did include a few references to Polynesian mythology in the argument.**

 **I don't know when I'll be writing again, so I'll let you know what the next world will be: Wonderland.**


	10. Finding Wonderland

**Sorry for the long wait. I've been working on my book, as well as getting distracted by the internet. I'll try to find a way to update more often.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

 **Johri belongs to Flautist4ever. Special thanks for helping to look over the chapter**

* * *

Chapter 10: Finding Wonderland

MORTEM'S POV

It's been nearly a day since I brought that stupid locket to this guy so he could look over it. He said it shouldn't take long, and yet here I was waiting for him to get back to me. Well, I was done with waiting. IF he wasn't going to come to me, then I would go to him.

As I moved towards his lab, I prepared to blast my way in. However, I heard voices coming from inside. I don't know why, but I paused to listen to them.

"You're sure they defeated the Heartless?" The one who sent me to those worlds was saying.

"Yes." The second voice, feminine in nature, replied. "They think they've won."

"And you've planted the clue?"

"Of course. Those idiots have no idea what is going to happen."

"Excellent. Take a break. If needed, Number Six will deal with them. In the meantime, I must tend to Mortem. He'll be getting impatient by now." Darn right I was.

Right before I could open the door, something leapt on me from behind. With a snarl, I grabbed it and threw it off me. What I saw was some red koala-like creature, with a big nose and long ears. It had four arms, and spikes coming from its back with a couple of antenna on the head. I have no idea what a koala was, but I didn't care. This monster attacked me and was going to pay. "You wanted a fight? You got one." I frowned as I called forth my Keyblade and held it up.

The creature said something I never heard of before, yet understood at the same time. As it leapt at me, I managed to knock it to the side with my weapon. While I gathered dark energy into my hand, it rolled up into a ball and came at me. I fired at it, but it managed to roll out of the way before it attacked me with those sharp claws. Growling in pain, I narrowed my eyes as I felt the dark energy swirl up around me.

Then, the door opened and I found the man in charge standing there. "Mortem. Leroy. What's the meaning of this?"

"Leroy?" Looking at the beast, there was no way its name could be Leroy. Killer, or Psycho, perhaps, but Leroy? No way.

The little thing said something that I could not recognize, and yet I understood at the same time. "Yeah, that's my name. Got a problem with it, big stinkyhead?"

"You take that back, or I'll-."

"Enough." The doctor ordered as he looked at me. "Mortem. I finished looking over that locket you found, and based on the energy output and the seven slots inside I've concluded that it is the solution to your dilemma." Holding the locket out to me, he continued, "This item appears to be an artifact made some time ago to hold the Hearts of Light, as the energy it gives off seems to match the light of the Seven Hearts."

Taking the locket from him, I shoved it into my back pocket while I growled. "Took you long enough. Now to go back to Agrabah and take the heart of the princess."

"I believe there is a better target for you." Taking out the disk thing and pressing it, a holographic map of the known worlds appeared. "Here in this world dwells one of the Hearts, and unlike the one in Agrabah she is not guarded by any beings with or without magic. It should be a simple task for you two to obtain your first heart."

"Wait. Two?"

"That's right. From now on you'll be working with Leroy."

One look and I knew the red koala monster hated the idea as much as I did. "You expect me to work with this thing?"

"Of course. He will be the perfect partner. He is bullet-proof, fire-proof, and processes information faster than the most advanced supercomputer. Equipped with night vision and possessing strength to lift over three thousand times his own weight, it would be foolish not to have him as an ally."

I shook my head. "Forget it. I'm not working with him." The little guy agreed with me on that.

"You two will work together. What's more, I've come across something else that might help you." Holding up what appeared to be a gem, he said, "My expertise is more in the realm of science, but I've picked up enough of the mystic to know this. I believe it is a summon gem, and if you use it you can call forth an ally to help you in battle. However, this particular gem I would advise against using it unless there was no other option."

I could sense a lot of darkness within this thing, so I would not argue it. Taking the gem, I put it in one of my pockets. "What can you tell me about this world I'm heading to?"

"There is no logic to it. It appears to be a place where things happen just for the sake of it. One would almost call it the world of insanity. But those who have visited it prefer to call it Wonderland."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

5 Hours ago...

The Mysterious Tower was incredible. All around I could feel mystical energy, like someone had taken hope and joy, and mixed it together with cool water. This world was fast becoming one of my favorites. "So this Mr. Sid lives here."

"Master Yen Sid." Scrooge corrected me. "And yes. This is his tower. Many times my nephew has come here seeking his advice on how to handle the Heartless with his friends."

"Any idea why it was so urgent for us to meet with him?" Jason asked.

"Only one way to find out." Was the old duck's answer as he made his way up the stairs to the doors with us not far behind. Pushing them open, we found ourselves at the bottom of a spiral staircase. Some vases and benches were around us, but that was it. I had to admit, I was a bit disappointed. You'd think a place of magic would have some more mystical stuff to it.

As we ascended the stairs, we came to another set of doors. However, when we pushed them open, we found ourselves on a platform in the middle of a green space. Not too far away was another set of stairs that led to another door. "Whoa!" I said as I took a step back.

"Oh, don't be silly, dear. This is nothing." Scrooge insisted as he went up the stairs with Jason and I right behind him. Opening the door, we found ourselves in a room similar to the one we just left behind except the place was blue instead of green. Going up the third set of stairs, we found ourselves in a room that was red, with more stairs leading up.

"Just how many of these rooms are there?" Jason asked as we moved up the stairs.

"Oh, we should be there soon." Scrooge said as we opened the door. Inside we found a circular room with windows shaped like moons and stars, and a group of people were waiting for us. The first person I took notice of was a girl a few years older than me. It wasn't because of her pink and black outfit or her red hair or blue eyes. I just sensed something different about her, something pure that… wait. I did sense that before. "Ah, Donald!"

"Uncle Scrooge!" A younger duck said, or at least I think he did. His voice was difficult to understand.

Some strange animal with a big mouth and green clothes looked at his pal. "Donald. Ya didn't tell us yer uncle was comin' too."

"I didn't know."

"Hey there." A guy in red and black clothes waved at us. I noticed his brown hair was spiked. "You must be Jason and Clair. Yen Sid told us all about you."

"And who are you?" Jason asked, and I was sure he was going to take offense.

Instead, the guy smiled. "Oh, I'm Sora. This is Donald, Goofy, and Kairi."

"Welcome, Jason Norman and Clair Fay, and to you Scrooge McDuck." Another voice said. Turning I saw the empty chair behind the desk was now occupied by a wizard in blue robes. His grey beard was forked for some reason, and he was wearing a pointed hat with stars and moons on them.

"Are… are you Master Yen Sid?" I asked.

Nodding in confirmation, he spoke, "I am glad you two were able to make it, for this is of the utmost importance to you." As we all paid attention to him, he continued to elaborate, "Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy. As you four know, a few months ago something happened between all the worlds that has never occurred before. Every world was shaken in the event we have come to call the Spatial Tremor. And as you two know, this event ripped you from your home world. But that has become even worse, for even as we speak a new warrior calling himself Mortem is traveling between worlds with the intent of collecting the Seven Hearts of Light."

"News flash: We already know this." Jason said. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Patience, Jason." The old wizard scolded him before continuing, "Kairi, as one of the Seven, that means you are in danger from Mortem as well."

So I was right. Kairi had one of the Seven Hearts, just like Jasmine in Agrabah. Before I could say anything, Sora spoke up. "But Kairi's been training ever since the final battle against Xehanort. She can handle it."

"Do not be so sure, Sora. Mortem is a relentless opponent who will stop at nothing to get what he seeks. Already he has attacked Agrabah for the heart that dwells there. And because of the actions of Jason, it is left unprotected."

I noticed Donald glaring at Jason, which I didn't like. Before I could say anything, Kairi asked, "Master Yen Sid, is that why Lea, Riku, and King Mickey aren't here yet?"

"They are already watching over the worlds where the other six reside." The old sorcerer confirmed. "Their experience as well as yours will prove valuable for Jason and Clair to learn from."

That caught the four of them off guard. "What?"

"You two can both use a Keyblade?" Sora asked us. To answer him, Jason and I both summoned our Keyblades that appeared in our hands in a flash of light. The four of them looked at us with… would those expressions be a mixture? I can't tell. Not very good at reading people.

"This is great!" Sora said. "Don't worry. My friends and I will help you learn to use your Keyblades no problem."

"Good." Master Yen Sid told them. "King Mickey will be waiting for you at Wonderland. See to it that you make haste, for we do not know how long it will be until Mortem finds his way to that world."

* * *

Present time…

"This is Wonderland?" Jason asked as we approached from our two Gummi ships. I was surprised that Sora, Donald, and Goofy had a ship of their own, though it was smaller and not as impressive as Scrooge's was. Right now we were outside of Wonderland, and all I could see was a big gaping hole that led down somewhere. Not exactly the most inviting place to see.

"Yep." Sora said with a smile on his screen. "We'll meet you down there." With that, his face disappeared and we saw them emerge from their gummi. I expected them to fall super fast into the hole, but to my surprise they didn't. Instead, they slowly floated down like gravity had been turned off for them.

"What in Gri's name?" Jason asked.

Heading to the door, the seasoned adventurer told us, "Well, come along. We cannot keep them waiting."

"Waiting? They just jumped down a hole!"

"Then we should hurry and catch up to them." Scrooge told us as he opened the door. "Come on, then. Let's not wait until Christmas."

"Until what?" I asked.

"It's a holiday… I'll tell you about it if you hurry up."

If you haven't figured out by now, I was always willing to learn new things and had a tendency to be too curious for my own good. Heading to the door, I prepared to jump out when I made the mistake of looking down. All I could see was blackness in that hole, with no indication of it having a bottom. I ended up taking a step back from it.

"Is there no other way?" Jason asked from behind me.

"Where's your sense of adventure?" Scrooge asked.

I heard my cousin give out a sigh as he said, "Then I guess we'd better hurry this along."

"What are you- Jason!" I cried out as I felt my cousin push me in the back sending me out of the gummi and towards the hole. At first I couldn't help but scream as I fell, but stopped when the effects of gravity slowed on me just like I had seen with Sora and the others. I have to be honest, this was one strange sensation. I felt like I was back in space, outside of the station before I had been pulled from my world.

As I floated down the hole, I noticed an old lamp that was lit, and several pieces of furniture that were all floating in the air. Beds, couches, chairs, bookshelves, tables, they could all be found in this strange hole. I took a book from one of the shelves, but to my surprise it was full of nothing but pictures. No words to be found whatsoever. What kind of world was this?

As I kept on with my descent, I noticed the bottom was approaching, and the others were waiting for me. As I approached, I felt gravity turn back on for me a few inches before I touched the ground. THe effect was jarring, and I almost fell over, but Kairi grabbed me before I could fall over. "Careful."

"Look out below." We heard Scrooge warn us, prompting us to look up where we saw him and Jason floating down. AS we took a step back, the two of them made it to us, though Jason ended up falling over when the weightlessness wore off. "Ah, nothing like feeling light as a feather to start your adventure with." The old duck said as he looked around. "Though I must admit, I've never seen a place this strange before."

"I've heard about this place, but this is my first time seeing it." Kairi said as we started down a hallway. The tunnel was all sorts of colors that shouldn't be used for a hallway, like blue, and green, and had furniture painted into the walls, floor, and… the ceiling? What in Gri's name?

As we turned a corner, we came across a door that just seemed abrupt and out of the blue. Muttering something about strange things, Jason opened the door, except there was another door behind that one! And it was smaller than the last one. "What is going on?"

"Yeah, nothing makes sense in Wonderland." Sora explained to us. "It's pretty much anything goes."

"NOW you tell us." Jason groaned as he opened that door, and found yet another, smaller door behind it. Grasping the knob like he was going to rip it off, he opened it to find a hole. "About time." Getting down, he began to squeeze his way through the hole. Well, that was going to take some time for us to all get through.

A few minutes later, we had all managed to squeeze through the hole only to find ourselves in a strange little room. It was all decorated with a table and chairs, a fireplace to one side, a drawing of a bed into the wall with a hole in the wall and a door with a golden doorknob. I wonder, is every room in Wonderland like this? Eini would probably like this room, even if it was getting crowded with the seven of us.

"Well, on we go." Scrooge said as he moved to the hole.

"Wait." Donald said as he grabbed the back of the old duck's coat. "You can't go through there. First you need to drink the bottle."

Picking up a bottle from the table, my cousin looked it over. "It just says to drink it. Sounds like a good way to be poisoned to me."

"It's not poison. Watch." Taking the bottle, the hero of the Keyblade drank from the bottle, and… holy Gri above! He's shrinking! Kairi then took the bottle next and drank to enact the shrinking process on her. Probably a good idea given how it looked like she was wearing a mini skirt. But who in their right mind would wear such a short skirt? Well, at least she was out of one awkward situation.

One by one we all drank from the bottle and shrunk ourselves down to three inches tall. At least that was my guess. All I know is one minute I was my normal size, the next I was standing next to a table that could've been used by Tetsukyo. Very nerve wracking indeed. But at least I wasn't alone. And I could still feel an assortment of tastes in my mouth, like I had eaten a full-course meal in one drink.

No sooner had we shrunk than an assortment of Heartless appeared. We saw lots of the Shadows and Soldiers we had fought before, but there were also a new assortment of Heartless around. They all looked the same, with tall hats and cloaked bodies that floated in the air. What separated them was the colors they had. Red, yellow, blue, green, and purple.

"Watch out. Those things are immune to certain spells." Donald warned me as he fired a Blizzard spell at one of the red ones, but a blue one took the hit instead. "See?"

"So we don't fight with magic." Jason said as he swung his Keyblade at one of them, hitting it. Scrooge also joined him, whacking several of the floating Heartless with me. However, the ground based Heartless didn't give us any room to breathe as the came forward, slicing at us with their claws. Goofy managed to stop a Soldier before forcing it back with his shield, while Sora managed to take down a couple of Shadows at the same time.

Blasting one of the yellow Heartless with a Fire Spell, I watched as the crystalline heart flew up into the air before I was attacked by one of the blue Heartless. Frowning, I imagined it being set on fire while I pictured the flames erupting from the end of my Keyblade. "Fire!" I cast the spell, only for a red Heartless to take the blow instead. It didn't take much to realize that only made that kind stronger.

"Don't hit that one!" Donald told me while he hit it with his staff before Goofy rammed his shield into it as well. Their teamwork ended up killing the thing, but more Heartless were starting to appear around us. More Shadows and Soldiers, and these multicolor hat things. Realizing my magic wasn't going to be much good against these things, that only meant I had to do what the others were doing.

Leaping up, I swung my Keyblade around to hit one of the green hats, and managed to land a blow. I tried to swing again, but I cried out in pain as I was hit by both fire and ice from these things. Spinning her Keyblade around Kairi came to my rescue, sending the Heartless that attacked me back to wherever they came from.

"Gah!" Jason cried out as one of the Soldiers scratched him with its claws. Swinging his cane, the elder duck knocked it away from my cousin before tripping up a Shadow. Jason then brought his weapon down on the Heartless, destroying it and sending it back into the shadows. That's when I noticed the Heartless seemed to be converging on Kairi. Wait. Was that because her heart was pure light?

Running over to hear, I swung my Keyblade to hit one of the purple Heartless away from her while Sora finished it off. We then gathered around her, resolved to stop the monsters from getting anywhere near her. However, several dark burning objects then flew out, destroying many of the Heartless and freeing the hearts they had captured. There was one Shadow left afterwards, but it was quickly destroyed by a new figure.

"Riku!" Sora named the figure, who had short silver hair, and was dressed in a black leather jacket with matching gloves and boots. His white shirt and blue jeans seemed to convey a sense that he was a seasoned warrior, and anyone who crossed him would regret it. As soon as the thought entered my mind, I knew who would win in a fight between Riku and Jason.

My cousin would lose.

Giving a nod to acknowledge his friends, the guy said, "About time you guys got here. I was having a hard time fighting boredom." Looking at us, he asked, "These the newbies?"

"Yep." Gesturing to us, Sora said, "This is Jason and Clair."

"And Donald's Uncle Scrooge." Goofy added, before getting hit on the head by Donald. "Ow! That hurt!"

"How are things here?" I asked. "Is everything okay?"

Shaking his head, Riku said. "I'm afraid not. While I was doing some reconnaissance, I noticed some card soldiers taking someone prisoner. If we don't hurry, we might lose Alice to the Queen of Hearts."

Blinking, I asked, "Who's the Queen of Hearts?"

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

No, no, no, and no! No matter how I try to program this thing, all I get are these stupid error messages! Gri's beak, this was getting frustrating and making me want to smash something with my wrench. What am I talking about? I could never hurt my precious babies like that!

There was a knock on my door. "Come in!" I called, trying to make a patch or workaround or something! Ugh, the only way this could be worse is if... I looked up at who had come through the door. "On second thought: go away."

"What? No 'Hi, how are you?' 'Why did you come to see me?' 'You want to go get something to eat?'" Haman asked as he pushed some of my spare tools off my bed and made himself comfortable.

With a cry, I dove to rescue my babies, but several ended of crashing against the floor while one was spared by my hands. "What do you want, Haman?"

"Now that's more like it." Brushing back some of his red hair, the blue-eyed creep looked at me. "I just want to know what it is you're working on. Day in and day out you keep yourself in here, working on who-knows-what."

While picking up some of my fallen babies, I narrowed my eyes. "You come in here, spill my tools all over the floor, and don't even bring me another bottle of Synthetic Energy? No, I'm not telling you, duh!"

"Is it something for Braxton?" My slight pause gave him the answer. "Ah, so it is. Everyone knows that guy is hung up on finding the two dead people. He really needs to learn to give it up. They're lost to space, if they didn't burn up in the atmosphere."

"So? If Yeller can't find them but I can, do you know what that will do for my prospects?" I frowned while I went back to tightening a screw.

"You seem to have the right attitude. I can see why Yeller chose you to be a part of his little program." Haman smirked. "Come on. Ditch Braxton and his harem."

With a sigh, I gave my answer. "I'd ask if you were jealous, but I'm too tired to validate you like that. Brax is doing what nobody else on this station has the guts to do: He's taking charge to bring our crewmates home, dead or alive." Turning to Haman, I began to push him towards the door. "Now, even I know that whatever happened to them wasn't a fluke, and when I find out what happened and how to recreate it, I'm going to broadcast my discovery live to every holoscreen, hologram, and holoboard back home before pushing you through it if you don't get out of my room five minutes ago. Now GET OUT!"

Either it was the way I was standing tall despite my short size, or the face that I was holding my wrench in a menacing manner, but regardless the flirty nature disappeared from Haman's face and he bolted for the door. When it closed, I sighed and sank to my knees. There go a few precious minutes from my life, thanks to that bozo. And I could've been using them to try and get this thing to work. Oh, all the stupid distractions that could've…

Wait. That was it. Distractions. Maybe I was looking at this all wrong. I was trying to get this thing to zero in on their signals, but what I should've been doing was getting it to filter out other signals first. There might be radio waves or microwaves, but then there might be any sort of waves at all. There had to be something else… sonar! But sound wouldn't work in empty space, so what could I use instead? Photons! They travel at a long distance, and aren't hindered by the vacuum that surrounds this station. Maybe, with the right coding, I could get my device to work on using the photons to find the two missing students.

Pulling up my holo-screen, I got to work on my hopeful new breakthrough.

* * *

 **Yes, Mortem now has a traveling companion. For a while I thought it would be good to have him work with 627 and Leroy, but as time went on I decided Leroy might be better in helping Mortem with his journey. Also, he got a summon gem, but I won't say who it is until later.**

 **I have seen the recent Kingdom Hearts stuff, and I know we're getting new Princesses of Heart. However, even though this takes place after the events of _Kingdom Hearts III_ , I decided to stick with the original Princesses. I was hesitant to bring in Riku as I remember seeing his Keyblade broken in one trailer for the game, but in the end I decided to do it anyway as he'll play a crucial part in Mortem's journey. **

**Thanks for bearing with me. Like I said, I'll try not to be too long with my next chapter. Oh, and I have started playing _Kingdom Hearts_ on my PS4 and uploading the videos to my YouTube account. Hopefully that won't keep me from updating. **


	11. Heart-won pain

**Special thanks to Yami-Black-Chaos for helping to write this, and to Flautist4ever for looking over it.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to Yami-Black-Chaos**

* * *

Chapter 11: Heart-won pain

MORTEM'S POV

Wonderland…

As I exited the portal with the little red pest, I took a minute to look at my surroundings. This world was unlike any of the others I had visited, as… wait a minute. "Why am I small?" I cried out to the heavens, as blades of grass and stalks of flowers were now the size of trees. How did this happen? I didn't take any potion, or have any spells cast on me. So why the devil was I now only three inches tall?

Growling, Leroy got my attention as I realized the two of us weren't alone. I heard some strange humming that seemed to come all around me, echoing through the trees. Then, out from the grass came a head. Just that. A bouncing head that vanished again and again, like it was trying to play a game with me. Finally, it paused on a bend blade of grass, and I was able to get a good look at it. It was some sort of purple and pink striped cat with a big grin on its face, but the head wasn't attached to its body. Raising an eyebrow while wondering how that was possible, I watched as it picked up its head and placed it back on its body. "What are you?" I asked the freaky feline.

"What am I? Who am I? Why am I?" The cat asked me back. "It really doesn't matter, because in the end, all answers are me."

Rolling my eyes at the absurd creature, I growled, "If I don't get some answers, I might test the theory of cats having nine lives."  
"Well, that depends on what questions you have." The cat said while never ceasing its grin. "But remember, the Cheshire Cat doesn't always give the answers."

Ah, so this thing was known as the Cheshire Cat. One answer, now for the biggest one. "Where might I find someone who bears a heart of light?"

"Heart of light, heart of darkness." The feline mused while its face turned upside down on its head. "I have my heart, but the Queen of Hearts owns all the hearts."

"This Queen of Hearts has it?"

"Not yet, but soon. If the trial goes her way, which it always does."

"How do I find her?"

"Well, some go this way. Some go that way. Some even go yonder. But as for me, myself, I prefer the shortcut." Pulling on a blade of grass, the plants parted to reveal a path that led into a hedge maze of red and white roses. I was going to give one final retort to the cat, but when I looked back up the creepy feline was gone. Shaking my head at the absurdity I had seen here and not even five minutes have passed, I passed through with Leroy to these gardens.

Passing by one of the rose bushes, I noticed that some of the roses were dripping something red. Was that blood? Flowers that bleed? That's just messed up… wait a minute. That's not blood. It's red paint. Someone painted these roses red? What was the logic behind that? Unless… there was no logic here.

I started to make a turn, but the red koala monster grabbed the bottom of my jacket. "What? What is it?" I asked the little guy as he pointed in an opposite direction.

"Come this way." He said, though I still heard his jargon of whatever stupid language he was speaking. Shaking my head, I tried to go back the way I wanted to go.

"Yeow!" I cried out as the monster sunk his claws into me. "Why you!" Snarling I tried to hit Leroy with my Keyblade, but the thing ducked down and curled up into a ball to roll in the direction he wanted to go. I swear that there was a god somewhere who had a grudge against me. He only uncurled when he stopped just short of exiting the maze.

As I looked, I saw something that made this even more unbelievable for me. There were cards the size of people, with heads and limbs, and all of them were standing at attention. They came in red and black variety, with their weapons having different designs. The lances the red ones carried were designed after the heart, while the black ones had axes designed like spades. Both colors had floppy shoes and noses that either looked like right side up or upside down hearts. Also, there were lots and lots of them. Enough to make up an army.

My thoughts were interrupted as a fanfare was announced, and from another exit in this huge maze came a white rabbit wearing spectacles and a red waistcoat carrying a huge gold pocket watch. Running up some sort of pedestal, the bunny gasped for breath before announcing, "H-her Imperial Highness. H-her grace, her excellency, her royal majesty, the Queen of Hearts!"

As the Rabbit spoke, I noticed someone coming down the Hedge Garden. She was a large woman dressed very regally. Her gown was red and black with a white lining. The left side of her dress had a short black sleeve with a red cuff, a red abdomen, and the rest was black, while the right side was similar, but with the colors reversed. She even had a second dress with a similar split design, the colors alternating between black and yellow. The right side was similar, but with inverted colors, and the yellow appeared to be more gold. The Queen of Hearts also had a round nose, gold earrings, and a small golden crown atop her head. Her black hair was tied at the back with a red ribbon with a few loose bangs at the front. She also carried a small wand with a big red heart on it. A loud cheer went up from the card soldiers as she made her way up a stand and took a seat.

"Look." Leroy pointed again as I took notice of a smaller pedestal in front of the one the Queen of Hearts was sitting in. In that stand, surrounded by black cards, was a girl who looked to be around eight to nine years old. She was in a blue dress with a white apron, and a black bow in her blonde hair. I recognized her from the files on the Princesses of Heart. It was Alice.

"Court is now in session." The White Rabbit declared as several animals in a box looked ready to take notes. They must be the jury. Everyone was hushed as the Queen spoke.

"Today, we shall finally end this trial that was started years ago." The Queen of Hearts spoke. "You remember the sentence?"

"But there must be a verdict first." Alice protested.

"Sentence first! Verdict afterwards."

"But that isn't the way!"

"All ways are my ways!"

The attitude of this obese monarch was getting on my nerves, and I was tempted to move in and attack her. However, I didn't have to do anything as I heard some familiar voices cry out, "Hold it right there!" I watched as that idiot punk and his accomplice ran forward, with the old duck behind them. However, they were also joined by faces I hadn't met before, but had seen from the files. One of them was the final princess, Kairi. The data proved to be accurate as she was with the ones my files called Sora and Riku, as well as Donald Duck and Goofy of Disney Town.

"And who are you?" The Queen of Hearts asked before she took notice of the others. "You! You dare to show your faces in my court again?"

Looking at his friend, Riku asked, "Something you want to tell us?"

"We kinda meddled with things here." Goofy admitted with a voice of shame. I found myself wanting to know more, but that was no in the cards, so to speak.

"Excellent." The Queen of Hearts said as the guards surrounded the group. "Now all the guilty party is here."

"But we weren't here back then!" Clair protested.

Her words fell on deaf ears as the queen bellowed, "Silence! All parties associated with the accused are guilty! Now your sentences will be carried out. Off with their heads!"

This bloated whale was insane, and I was starting to hate her more than I hated Jason. Whoa. I hate someone more than Jason? How disturbing.

Regardless, as I watched the cards and the Keyblade wielders fight, I decided that now, while all this chaos was happening, was probably the best time to make a move for the younger princess. I also thought it might be a good opportunity to test out the power I had discover back in Agrabah. The Unversed, a horde of fledgling emotions at my command. I gathered my darkness and focused it on my anger. Soon enough, those same creatures appeared before me. It felt weird to have the ability to summon creatures from my own negative feelings, but as long as they can get the job done, I wasn't gonna complain. I mentally directed them to their positions, ready to jump in at my command. However, I found myself face-palming when SOMEONE decided to act out of turn.

Cackling like he was having the time of his life, Leroy leapt out into the fray, pulling down the hat of the duck wizard while giving the tall captain a wet willie. Crying out in shock from that, Goofy looked at the alien life form with wide eyes while he leapt onto Jason and proceeded to bite down on his arm. Crying out in pain, the idiot began to wave his arm around like a fool while Leroy held on tight. Using his keyblade in his other hand, the dummy tried to whack the experiment off. Guess he could think things through.

While that was happening, I took a quick look at the princess, and saw that Sora was making his way over to her, as if he was going to get her to safety. Couldn't have that happening. I chose this time to sic my Unversed into the battle, and summoned a slightly bigger one in front of Sora, blocking his way to Alice.

"What?" The Keyblade's Chosen asked as he looked at the Unversed, but didn't dwell on it long as he got into a battle stance. However, while he was busy fighting it, The Queen of Hearts took action. Ordering some of her cards around, two of them seized Alice and began to drag her away. Great. Now that means I've got to do something.

I summoned two bird-like Unversed to distract the cards and leapt over to them, taking them out. Sending out more of Unversed around I took a look at the young princess in front of me, who stared back at me. Her eyes widened, but then became puzzled, as if she were trying to figure out if I was friend or foe.

"Get off!" With one last jab Jason finally managed to free himself from Leroy, though it wasn't without a cost. Blood dripped down his arm, giving me an idea on just how sharp those teeth really were. The little red guy just laughed at the sight of his handiwork, and curled up into a ball to roll away from him. Intercepting his path the young mage swung her Keyblade like a mallet and sent him flying.

Some of the Unversed were beginning to swarm around the princess Kairi while the Queen of Hearts just kept yelling for people to be beheaded. Sora, who had finally taken care of the larger Unversed I had created, looked over to Alice and saw me. "Hey you! Get away from her!"

Summoning my Keyblade, I replied, "Make me." I then summon another Unversed who grabbed onto Alice, making sure she doesn't get away. Something in the back of my mind was urging me not to hurt the girl, but I ignored it and focused my attention on the veteran Keybearer. Perhaps it was a good idea to see what he could do.

Gritting his teeth, Sora charged at me with his weapon. I managed to parry his blow and force him back, but he wasn't done with me yet. Leaping up, he managed to land a hit with a solid slam of his weapon. I glared at him and then saw he had transformed his Keyblade into a pair of silly looking guns. So he was capable of that too. His experience definitely showed. But I had no time to doddle as I found myself deflecting energy bullets. After awhile I started conjuring Dark Firagas back at him.

A couple managed to hit him, but it didn't look like it did a lot of damage to him. "Why are you doing this?" Sora asked me as he fired again. "You have a Keyblade. You shouldn't be doing this."

"Like you'd understand," I said as I rushed at him. I transformed Vengeful Chaos into its scythe form and started swinging at him. He manage to dodge my attacks left and right. After getting frustrated I gather dark energy through the scythe, and electric energy was charge at the red gem that ornamented the blade. Acting on instinct, I pointed it at Sora and blasted a beam of electricity at him. It was a direct hit as the veteran went flying backwards from the attack.

Smiling in satisfaction, I reverted my weapon back to its Keyblade form as I turned to look at the restrained princess, who looked back at me with fear in her eyes. I pointed my Keyblade at her, but I paused. I wasn't sure why I was hesitating, except for the back of my mind nagging at me that she was just a child. For some reason, I was questioning whether I really should be doing this. But this was the only way I could think of to get my memories back.

"Stop that intruder! Off with his head!" I heard the queen yelling from behind me. Growling in frustration, I turned and prepared to fire a Dark Firaga at the fat hippo, only for someone to grab my arm from behind.

"You can't do that!" Alice said as she held me back.

Turning to her, I asked, "You would risk your life to save someone who would execute you on a whim?"

"She may be a fat pompous bad-tempered old tyrant, but she's still Wonderland's queen."  
"This world would be better off without her."

"That is not your decision to make. And if you strike her down, you're no better than she is."

Throwing her off, I turned to her with a growl. I wanted to slap her for her naivety and getting in my way. But somehow I just couldn't hurt the kid. Instead, I told her, "One thing I've learned, is that you don't get what you need by being optimistic." With that, I raised my Keyblade to do what I needed to do. Pointing it at her heart, I focused on it removing it from her body. Once the glowing heart was out, the girl promptly collapsed on the ground. I felt bad for her for some reason, but I pulled out the strange trinket from that ocean world. As soon as I opened the locket, the heart of light seemed to react to it. I could sense an unusual magic emitting from the locket and the heart looked as though it was being dragged toward it until it came in contact and a flash of light occur.

After that flash ended, one of the slots in the locket was filled by some kind of gem. With the heart nowhere to be seen, I could only assume that gem was the heart. After a few seconds of staring, I suddenly felt massive pain in my head, and a high pitch ringing in my ear. Crying out in pain, I then saw several images appearing in my head.

I saw a much younger version of myself in a reflection of a pool of water, probably around the same age as Alice, wearing worn out clothing, and covered in dirt and bruises. I saw myself on the streets of some town, stealing whatever food I could get. However, I also saw myself getting beat left and right be other people.

"Get back here, you filthy thief!"

"Stay away, you… you devil!"

"What kind of a child kills his own mother?!"

"How dare you kill the beloved priestess!"

"Demon!"

And the last thing I saw, was me tied to some kind of wooden post, and being whipped and slashed at. I was surrounded by the people who said all those insults, who had tormented me night and day for something that was out of my control. Strange thing was, I was starting to believe them. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I truly was a demon, but that didn't mean that I wanted to be one. I looked out with pleading eyes to the murderous horde, but found no compassion or mercy among them. They wanted me dead and were going to get it. One man in particular, who I recognized as my father, brought forward an executioner's knife, and had raised it up to plunge it into my heart when darkness suddenly surrounded me.

Needless to say, those images filled me with so much anger and hate. Back in reality, I was feeling so much pain and agony, and the ones I was fighting were doing nothing to help me keep it under control. As I focused, I saw the duck wizard cast a Thundaga spell that electrocuted me and fueled my rage some more. "Give back Alice's heart right now!"

I did not respond to that.

"Are you deaf? He said give it back!" Jason called out.

Still I did not respond.

Using her Keyblade to clear some of the smaller Unversed, Kairi told me, "Please, Mortem. The Keyblade chose you for a reason. Give the heart back, and we can try to help you."

"You… help me…" My voice came out much colder than I intended, but I didn't care. "It's too late for that. This heart has helped me recover a fragment of my memories, and now that I know the Hearts of Light can do that, nothing will stop me from claiming the rest of them. And yet… why did it have to be so disgusting?" Just thinking about the memories I had reclaimed filled me with more rage than I ever felt, reminding me of when the abuse had reached a boiling point in my childhood, when my innocence had died. I lost control of my darkness, and with a loud shout I accidentally summoned a giant dragon-like Unversed.

"The Jabberwocky!" The rabbit cried out with alarm as the card soldiers just stopped trying to fight and began to run for their lives. Even the Queen of Hearts stopped ordering for people to be beheaded and ran for her life. To do so she ended up flattening several of her own soldiers just to save her skin. Pathetic, but I decided to not dwell on her. My targets were the ones who insisted on getting in my way.

As the dragon-like Unversed roared and leapt at them, I noticed it tried to go for Kairi first. Her friends got in the way, slicing at it with their Keyblades. Their attacks managed to do some damage, but with its long claws it managed to knock them back. Goofy ran in hitting it with his shield, but that only caused the large monster to take notice of him. Swinging its tail, it knocked the captain of the guard back.

"Goofy!" Donald cried out before letting out a ridiculous little rage cry and casting several spells at the creature. Using its wings to deflect, it then sent the duck flying into the elder one, who let out several curses as the younger one landed on him. My anger, however, wasn't satisfied with sending an Unversed to attack my enemies. Holding up my Keyblade, I rushed forward to attack this pathetic group.

Once the old duck got the younger one off him, he prepared to fight me with his cane. Undeterred I knocked him aside with one swipe of my weapon before charging forward. Clair fired some fireballs at me, but they were so weak I almost felt pity for her. Almost. Deflecting them, I raised my weapon to strike her down, but was blocked by Jason. "Don't you dare." He growled at me.

"Move." I told him, though when he still tried to push back I was pleased because it meant I could hurt him. I shoved him back before gathering my darkness. " **Chaos Blade!** " And I started warping around the brat while dashing into him multiple time, leaving several cuts on his body. I then finished by kicking him in the gut, knocking him onto the ground. I then approached him. "You've been a thorn on my side since the moment we met. Blaming me for something I was ordered to do. Acting like the world should revolve around you. Complaining about the most insignificant stuff. You bark a lot, but you don't even have the bite back yourself up. It's pathetic! You are just a whiny brat who can't handle any situation thrown at you. And quite frankly, I'm sick of you!"

To my surprise he went and kicked me in the last place any man would want to be kicked, even me. Despite this, I was able to convert the pain into rage and channel it into darkness that I used to attack him some more. But that did not make me feel satisfied with what I've done, so I decided to remove this problem for good. Changing my Keyblade back into a scythe, I raised it up to take his life.

"No!" Clair said as she cast another spell, but this one was more powerful than what I had encountered before from her. It seemed like a powerful blast of light that forced me off my feet and sent me flying backwards into the stand the Queen of Hearts used to sit in before she ran for her life. Wood splintering and cracking around me matched my astonishment at the kid's power. When did she get so strong?

Pulling myself out of the wreckage, I observed her leaning on her Keyblade panting heavily. That spell was more than she could handle at this moment. Still, to know that she had such potential as a mage started to change how I viewed her. She might end up posing a threat to me someday. In that case, the best thing to do would be to eliminate her. Noticing I was starting to pick myself up, she held up her hand and tried to cast a Fire spell. However, instead of hitting me, Leroy leapt up and caught it in his hands before throwing it back at her, knocking her off her feet. So this guy could not be hurt by fire? That certainly had its uses.

Calling forth a massive Dark Fireball, I threw it at the girl with no reason to believe that I would miss. However, to my surprise it got sliced in two by none other than the Keyblade Master Riku himself. Holding up his Keyblade, he said, "Enough, Mortem. You have to return the heart."

"Never." I responded as I leapt at him scythe held high. I brought the blade down, but he managed to parry it perfectly. Pushing me back, he fired his own series of Dark Firagas at me. I did my best to deflect them using my scythe, but many still managed to hit me. For some reason, I was glad. The files had warned me that Riku was a skilled warrior, and now I was seeing the reports were not wrong. I daresay I enjoyed the truth here.

Rushing him again, I fired another spell at him. That one managed to hit him, but he refused to give up. Leaping against one hedge bush, he pushed himself off so fast I almost lost sight of him. However, he pushed off against another bush and another until he came at me so fast I had to block with my weapon, and he still managed to push me back a few feet.

Gritting my teeth, I began to push back, but I could feel the strength he had through his Keyblade. Like Sora, he might actually be a match for me unlike those two rookies. Guess I was going to have to bring out the big guns. Forcing him back, I transformed my Keyblade into its bazooka mode and aimed it at the Keyblade Master. First I tried shooting smaller but faster dark blasts, but he managed to dodge or deflect them. Growing anger, I charged a lot more energy into the bazooka. " **Chaos Cannon!** " and fired a slow but massive projectile as the veteran.

Riku attempted to dodge the attack, but he found himself surprised as it changed course no matter which direction he went it would follow him. Firing more Dark Fireballs at it did nothing to slow it or deter it, so the Master tried to make it so it would hit me as well as him. When I tried to knock him into the projectile, he blocked me with some sort of barrier spell. That ended up costing him as he was hit by my attack.

My victory did not go unnoticed by his friends, who in addition to the Unversed had to keep fighting Leroy. "Riku!" Sora called out as the fatal blow was dealt to the monster as it vanished back into the darkness. I hadn't expected to suddenly feel an intense pain in my chest as the dragon Unversed's darkness flew back into me. I didn't have time to linger on that as the entire group ran over to their injured friend, ready to fight me.

Waving his hand as if to tell them not to worry, Riku told them, "I'm fine." His words did not fool anyone though, as he had third-degree burns all over him, and his clothes were in tatters. Wow. I must've put a little too much energy into that last attack. Still, I proved I was the better warrior after all.

"Heal!" Kairi casted the Curaga spell, healing most of the damage done to her friend. Once that was done, she turned her gaze to me, and her blue eyes ended up sending chills down my spine. "What is wrong with you Mortem? Why are you taking the hearts?"

"What is it to you?" I frowned before looking at Riku. "Well, since he gave me a challenge, I will honor you with an answer. I am taking the hearts because they are the only way to reclaim my memories."

"Your memories? You have amnesia?"

"Unfortunately. And now I know this is the way I can reclaim what I had lost."

Shaking her head, Kairi continued to speak to me. "This can't be the only way. Mortem, if you return the heart, I'm sure Master Yen Sid can help you remember."

Her naivety was so pathetic it made me laugh. "There is one way you can help me, but it is not through anyone else!" I raised my weapon to take her heart, but then the craziest thing happened. For a split second I saw someone else replace Kairi. It was brief, but I remember the details. The hair went from short to long, and turned from red to silver. Looking into those eyes, I could see the person staring back at me, but I could not remember who she was or why the devil I was hesitating! My head was in pain again, trying to remember, but nothing was coming!

"It's not too late, Mortem. You can still make this right." Kairi said. "If you have a Keyblade, then there must be a good person in you."

Ugh. I couldn't handle it anymore. "It already is too late for me to turn back now." I told her as I held my Keyblade up. "I'm done with all of you. I showed you mercy today, but do not expect me to be so generous next time. Any of you cross my path again, I will kill you. And you'd better find a fortress to hide in Princess. Because one day soon, I will come for your heart." With that, I tossed my weapon into the air, and as it came back it transformed.

I heard several gasps as it came down like a tireless motorcycle that I wasted no time getting on. The front was a massive cannon that I remembered from instinct could fire a deadly blast at whatever was in front of it. Three engines in the back was what allowed this thing to move at high speeds. Quick and powerful. Motioning for Leroy to get on, I concentrated in front of me for a dark corridor to open. Once it did, I flew into it with the red monster, leaving the crazy world of Wonderland behind.

* * *

?...

With the reacquired memories, and the tangle of emotions they brought to me, I decided not to return to the one who was sending me out. He could wait while I tried to clear my head. I don't know why he was sending me out after the hearts, but I knew he wasn't going to have a chance to get them until I was done with them, and not a second sooner.

"Where are we going?" Leroy asked from behind me, the translation of his words coming to my mind despite the fact that my ears heard his alien language.

"Away." I said. Something in the back of my mind said if I didn't get out of this place soon, Leroy was going to start annoying me. Guess here was a good a place as any to go. Opening a door, I piloted my glider to head outside of the darkness, and into a place that was… Whoa! I had to pull back on the glider as something went whistling past the front of my glider before exploding. "Fireworks? Who the hell is shooting up fireworks?!"

Leroy didn't have an answer, but more fireworks were going off all around us. I swear by anything that if this was because of some reckless idiot, I was going to have their heads. Pulling to the side, I tried to navigate through the fireworks that were going up and off all around me like a rainbow minefield in the sky. Now that was a scary thought.

Feeling clawed hands shaking my back, I heard Leroy exclaim to me, "Look out!" His warning came too late though as one red firework came up and hit the glider, knocking the two of us off it. As my weapon returned to my hand, I heard Leroy screaming as we both plummeted down into the darkness of this world, the two of us at the mercy of whatever strange creatures dwelled here.

* * *

 **Just to clarify, the Unversed that served as a boss for those who did not fight Mortem was called the Mock Jabberwock. Basically, it is based off the Jabberwocky, but its eyes are the Unversed eyes and the claws are also miniature heads of the main one. As for the mouth, it has a pair of pincers like the predators (which I've only seen pictures of). So, long story short, not the real Jabberwocky. And I'm not referring to the one from the live-action Alice in Wonderland. Walt Disney was considering putting in a sequence in the animated film where Alice would've encountered the Jabberwocky, but it got scrapped.**

 **Some of you may find it odd that Leroy became a teammate for Mortem, but I thought he could use a friend. I don't see them as friends right now, but I think it's possible. I was also going to go with 627, but since that experiment is 100% evil I decided against it.**

 **As for the world Mortem and Leroy found themselves in, you'll have to wait until the next chapter.**


	12. Let Bayous be Bayous

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

 **Braxton, Johri, Eini, and Grace belong to Flautist4ever.**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever and YamiChaos27 for helping to edit this.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Let Bayous be Bayous

CLAIR'S POV

The Mysterious Tower…

"Master Yen Sid! Master Yen Sid!" Goofy cried out as we hurried up the stairs. "It's terrible! The worst has happened!"

As he burst through the doors to the study of the sorcerer, he stood from his desk looking at us. "What has happened?"

"It was Mortem. He got one of the hearts." Riku explained as he and Jason brought in Alice's body. Eyes widening, the wizard conjured up a cot that the two of them set Alice upon. Looking at our teacher, the Keyblade Master continued, "We tried to stop him but we weren't able to protect Alice. He had powers I was not familiar with."

"He is strong in the darkness." Master Yen Sid explained as he looked over Alice. "It is clear that we are dealing with a foe who is more dangerous than Xehanort ever was."

Blinking, I asked, "Who's Xehanort?"

"Oh, that's right. You weren't here for him." Scrooge said. "My nephew and his friends used to fight him all the time."

That got my cousin's attention. "So Xehanort was a villain?"

"More than a villain." The old wizard explained, "Xehanort was a madman who sought to recreate the events of the First Keyblade War."

That sent shivers down my spine. "K-Keyblade War?"

"Yes. Long ago, in the age of what many worlds refer to as the time of fairy tales, the worlds were united as one. Everyone lived in the beauty of the light, which was shared by all. But where light shines brightest, the strongest shadows are cast. Many people began to covet the light for themselves, and from that greed darkness was born into the world.

"In this time, a weapon known as the X-Blade was forged, and was created as a means to take the light. Others forged lesser keyblades in its image, but none were near as powerful as the first. In time, there were those who realized what they were doing was wrong, and repurposed their keyblades to protect the light instead. War still became inevitable, and the forces of light and darkness clashed. In that conflict, the world was swallowed by the darkness."  
Feeling a little sick, I began to sat down when a chair ran up behind me to offer a place to sit. "So everyone died?"

"No, Clair. In that darkness, seven lights survived, and together they rebuilt the world that had been taken. To prevent a cataclysm from happening again, the world was divided into the universe that exists today, each world remaining separate from each other. The X-Blade was broken into twenty fragments: seven of light, thirteen of darkness. The light faded away into the darkness, where it remained hidden as Kingdom Hearts.

"Xehanort, who was a gifted Master of the Keyblade, obsessed over the legend, and became determined to see what would happen if another Keyblade War were to be unleashed. For years he traveled the worlds bringing chaos into countless lives. He even split his heart into thirteen fragments to create the Thirteen Darknesses to capture the Hearts of Light. And he would have succeeded if it had not been for Sora and those you see before you."

During the story, my keyblade had appeared in my hand. Before I used to look at it with wonder, but now I had so much doubt and uncertainty. Was my weapon evil? Was my purpose to hurt others and bring misery into their lives? My thoughts became interrupted as Jason asked, "Do you think Mortem could be connected to Xehanort?"

"I do not believe so. Xehanort has been defeated for over a year now, and the damage he has done to the worlds is being repaired as we speak." Yen Sid answered. "Yet the fact remains that Mortem has taken one of the Hearts of Light, and will seek the others in time. We must be ready."

I don't know how, but Kairi asked a question that was in my heart. "What about Alice's family? Won't they be wondering where she is?"

"We will do what we can to keep her family from worrying for her. Which is why you must do what you can to return her heart to her."

"I don't think it'll be that easy." My cousin spoke up. "In one of the worlds we went to, someone said something that's been bothering me. They seemed to suggest that all of us have just become pawns in an elaborate game, and I have a feeling this is a game we don't want to lose."

As I wandered through the tower, I was amazed at how much space was held in these walls. It was like being at the mall even though there was no way from the outside to tell that. There were rooms for sleeping, bathing, even gardens that were so well kept the richest person alive would be jealous. I even found entire rooms filled with libraries of books that would take me eternity to read all of.

As much as I wanted to spend my time reading, I couldn't bring myself to do it. The tale I had just heard was making me question myself and the path I had chosen. Why would I have a Keyblade if I was good? It was meant to be a weapon of evil, so did that mean deep down I was evil? I didn't want to be someone like Gerald Hendricks, or Buddy Primrose. The crimes they committed in history still made my spirit shiver like someone had blown cold air on me, and I wasn't sure if I could live with myself if I was made to be a person of evil.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I looked to see Kairi was coming my way. "Clair? Are you okay?"

Shaking my head, I explained, "I've been thinking about Master Yen Sid's story. If keyblades were made to do evil, then does that mean people who use them are evil? Is it only a matter of time before-."

"I'm going to stop you there." The redhead told me as she looked at me with those blue eyes. "I have a keyblade of my own, but I also hold one of the Hearts of Light. You know what that means? That means there isn't a drop of darkness anywhere in me."  
"But I don't have a heart of light."

"No, but that doesn't make you evil. My friends all made some pretty poor choices on their adventures. Some were bad, others were just dumb. But they rose above their mistakes, and both are now Keyblade Masters." Her eyes conveyed the truth of her words because I could see no deception in them. "I don't believe your keyblade is a tool of evil. It gives off a feeling of warmth and goodness, and every time I saw Xehanort or one of his vessels I always felt dread and cold from them. Don't worry. You are a good person. I know from the bottom of my heart."

Her words made me smile before I asked, "What about Mortem?"

She paused at that, and I knew she was feeling conflicted about it. "He… he seems lost. I believe there's good in him somewhere but there's a thick cloud of darkness raging in him. It's like his heart is trying to weather a storm, a hurricane, and he's looking for someone to help him."

I couldn't believe it. "Mortem needs help? He doesn't act like it."

"Maybe this isn't who he really is. Maybe if the storm clears he can be a big help for us. Hello. What's this?" Her question caught me off guard, so I turned to see what it was.

It was a plain wooden door, but I don't recall seeing it there. "Was that door behind me a few seconds ago?"

"No. It appeared when we were talking." Kairi then reached for it, and I realized she intended to open it.

"What are you doing? We don't know where that goes." I warned her.

The princess looked at me with comfort and assurance. "But it came to us. Maybe we're supposed to go through this door. Master Yen Sid said this tower had a way of helping those who needed help."

* * *

MORTEM's POV

Devil's Bayou...

"Mayday! Mayday!" I heard someone call out as Leroy and I fell through the sky. Turning, I saw a big white bird with smoking tail feathers falling our way. Wait. Were we still small? Oh, come on! Wait a minute. That could work to our advantage. That was how we were going to survive! Grabbing the little red monster, I reached out with my free hand and grabbed a hold of one of the feathers. Our fall didn't slow down because how fast this thing was going, but at least we would have a softer landing.

"What are you doing?" Leroy asked as I pulled us closer to the falling fowl.

Without looking back, I said, "Saving our skins!" Because of how fast we were going I had to squint or risk my eyes drying out. Once Leroy grabbed the bird with his claws I let go so I could hold on with both hands. I wish I had my glider with me now because I hate being in falls I cannot get out of.

Just when I thought this fall was never going to end, the bird's body jostled as it collided with something hard. We were at the ground already? This thing fell fast. I felt it skid a few times on the ground before a wave of water waved over it, knocking the two of us off and into what would've failed to classify as a puddle at our normal size, but at the one we were at it was like wading into a shallow lake.

Immediately the little red monster began splashing around. "Water? Not water! Help me! I'm drowning! I can't swim!"

Walking over to him, I folded my arms while shaking my head. "You do realize you're lying on the bottom, right? Just stand up."

"Oh." Was all he said as he got to his feet. It was just my luck. A virtually indestructible beast of destruction is afraid of water. I didn't know whether to be amused or annoyed. This could prove to be quite an inconvenience.

Turning, I got a good look at the bird we hitched a ride with. It was an albatross that had a pair of goggles and a sardine can strapped to its back. Currently it was letting out a sigh of relief as the burnt feathers were dealt with.

"Look out below!" We heard someone cry out. Turning, I saw a pair of mice floating down on an umbrella, before it broke. As they plummeted down, the albatross got out of their way as they fell into the water. As they got out from the ruined umbrella, a pair of muskrats came over to help them.

"Oh, dear. Let me help you." The obese muskrat with an apron and rolling pin said to the mouse with a purple hat and bow.

While she was being helped, another muskrat with some sort of tent-like shirt and a potbelly grabbed the other mouse and pushed a jug into his mouth. After being forced to down some of whatever was inside it, the mouse coughed out some smoke and looked as if someone had set his insides on fire. Noticing me, the muskrat moved to give me some, but I just summoned my Keyblade with the tip pointed at the vermin. "I promise you this: It won't end well if you try to give me any of that stuff."

"Okay, okay, no need to be so nasty." The animal said in a thick accent I couldn't place. "Truth is, here in Devil's Bayou you need all the help you can get."

"Devil's Bayou?" Guess it was a good a name as any for this place.

Nodding, the mouse who got the unwanted drink turned to me. "Where are you from, and how did you get here?"

"None of your business about where I'm from." I remembered that much and it was still unpleasant. "As for how I got here, I was just wandering and ended up here."

"Now stand back folks. I ain't gonna be hanging around this creepy place long. Clear the runway!" The albatross told us as he began running towards a ramp. We all got out of his way while he flapped his wings, and the last I saw of him was the bird falling into the swamp water with a splash.

Turning to the mice, I decided to get some answers. "Why are you two here? This doesn't seem like the ideal honeymoon site."  
"Oh, no. We're not married." The mouse with the bow spoke in a feminine voice. "We're on a mission to rescue Penny."

"Penny? Who's Penny?"

Shaking her head, the female mouse answered, "Penny's an orphan who vanished from the orphanage. Not long ago, we found a message in a bottle from her, and the Rescue Aid Society sent Bernard and I to rescue her."

"Miss Bianca." The mouse called Bernard said to her.

"Now, Bernard. I think he can help us."

Rescue Aid Society? Orphan? I never heard of such an organization, but for some reason learning this Penny didn't have any parents of her own struck a cord within me. Maybe it had something to do with the past memories I had obtained, how when I needed help no one came to my rescue. "Do you know where she is?"

"We were following someone who she was last seen with." Bernard answered. "Someone called Madame Medusa. We think she has her, and so we followed her here to Devil's Bayou."

Frowning, the female muskrat told us, "I'd like to give her a few whacks with my rolling pin."

"We swamp folks would like to run her clean out of our bayou." The male muskrat added. "Ever since she came, more of them monsters showed up as well."

That caught my attention. "Monsters?"

"Like shadows come to life. The other day I saw one of them devils attack some folks and turn them into more of them."

Heartless? That does match what I know them to do, but what are they doing here? If they showed up with this Medusa woman, she must be doing something bad to attract them. Before I could ask any other questions, Leroy spoke up. "I hear something."

"So do I. Somebody's coming this way." The female muskrat said as she turned. As we peered through the grass a sight that made me feel smaller than I was greeted us. From the reeds and horsetails rose two alligators that looked to be as big as mountains from where I was. Both of them carried something in their mouths: a teddy bear and… that had to be Penny. The gator which held her captive held her tight by the straps of her blue overall dress.

Pushing some of her blonde hair out of her eyes, she frowned at the massive reptiles. "Why did you have to go and spoil everything? Nero, don't you dare get my teddy bear wet." Both predators just chuckled at her attitude. A kid giving a warning to two predators that could end her life with a bite or two said a lot about her heart, and it somehow made me more determined to help rescue her.

"Oh. It's that poor little young one. She's tried to run away again." The female muskrat's words snapped me out of my thoughts.

Turning to her, I asked, "Where are they taking her? Madame Medusa must have someplace she's holed up."

"Oh, yeah. That old riverboat further down the bayou." The male muskrat told me. "She and the other human have been staying there ever since they got her."

Riverboat. Further down the bayou. Personal lackey. There was something about the way this woman works that was almost amusing, but the fact that she had abducted a child and brought her to this deity-forsaken swamp just did not merit any human. Pushing my way through the foliage, I spoke my mind. "I'm going after them."

"Watch out!" Leroy's warning came too late as something hit me and made me fly backwards. As I crashed against the ground, I let out some curses while I sat up to see what had hit me. A pair of Large Bodies stood in my way, accompanied by some Air Soldiers, Soldiers, and Shadows. With a growl I got to my feet while Vengeful Chaos appeared in my hand.

"Stay back." I ordered the rodents while I readied myself to fight. The Shadows flattened themselves against the ground while the Large Bodies came charging towards me. Leaping over them, I hacked one of the Air Soldiers several times before ending it with a fatal slash. As the heart flew up into the sky I positioned my weapon so it impaled a Soldier when I landed and sent another heart flying up.

Transforming my weapon from Keyblade to scythe, I felt a strange sense of pleasure fighting the Heartless. Maybe it was just letting off steam from the anger I gained in Wonderland, or from learning about the girl's plight. Whatever. It was just fuel for my power. Channeling my rage into my weapon, I noticed a coat of energy around the blade. Rushing forward, I managed to slice through the remaining three Soldiers and two of the Shadows, sending more Hearts into the unknown.

Grinning at the pleasure of seeing things fall before my power, I turned my attention to the Large Bodies that were running towards me. Swinging my weapon at them, I managed to knock both of them backwards into some roots. I swear I saw their eyes fill with bewilderment at what happened. That was when I noticed the energy around my scythe dimming. No. I wasn't going to let up now that I felt this power.

Shifting my weapon for the final blow, I swung it with enough force to make a tree fall. From that swing came a wave of red and black energy that flew towards the Heartless with force of a natural disaster. Even though the Shadows were out of the attack's path they were still destroyed by its power. The Large Bodies didn't stand a chance as it passed through them, ending their existence while the hearts flew up into the sky.

As my scythe returned to its Keyblade form, I suddenly felt all the energy drain from my muscles. Falling onto my knees, I jammed my weapon into the ground in order to support myself. My body said it wanted to get some rest, but there was no time for that. Just when I thought the battle was over, even more Large Bodies show up. "You've… got to… be kid… kidding me…"

As the Heartless came towards me, something large appeared from behind them. A rock? Well, at this size it was like a small hill. Before the Heartless could react it was slammed down on top of them, destroying all of them while the hearts just flew up like nothing had happened. Who in the world could've lifted… Leroy? Yeah, that red thing climbed on top of the rock and smiled at me like he was the greatest being in the universe.

Shaking my head, I told him, "Thanks." Taking out an ether, I drank it down and felt my energy return. Standing up, I looked at where the rodents were coming out.

"My goodness. That was…" Bianca was at a loss for words.

Bernard's words finished the sentence. "Terrifying. You fought like you were possessed!" One look from the female mouse and I realized that was not the word she was looking for.

"It doesn't matter. The Heartless cost us precious time." I said as I turned and moved in the direction I saw the alligators go. "I don't care how you feel about me. All you need to know is I am going to rescue that girl. As long as you do nothing to hinder me you have no need to fear. The one who does need to fear me is this Madame Medusa."

"Then we need to hurry." Bianca said as she and Bernard began to follow.

"You'll need a boat. Evinrude's got the fastest one around." The female muskrat told us as she pointed to a leaf where a dragonfly… was it wearing a blue sweater? I think it was. But still, that was a boat? Man, I hate being small. "Evinrude, wake up! Start that engine!" The muskrat called out, waking the insect up. Instead of starting up the engine, which I assumed was itself, the bug shook its head, making a series of noises with its wings. "What do you mean you're scared of the monsters? This one here… what did you say your name was?"

"Call me Mortem."

"Mortem can stop those things. Now get that engine going!" That order from her made the bug change his mind. As his wings started flapping, the mice got into the leaf before Bernard realized something.

"We're not all going to fit." He told me.

Shaking my head, I told him, "I wasn't planning on getting in that leaf." Throwing my Keyblade into the air, I willed it into its Glider form. As everyone watched with wide eyes, I got on it with Leroy behind me. "I'll cover you from the air. Now let's go."

As we disappeared into the murky bayou, the muskrat called after us, "Send Evinrude back as soon as you need help. I'll round up the neighbors."

* * *

EINI'S POV

"You sure this is going to work?" Braxton was asking Johri as she showed us her finished invention. He had gathered us together when Johri said she had finished something that should allow us to reach out to the two lost students in the uncaring void of space… somehow. I still thought there was a better chance of finding a pin in a dirt mound than of finding those two.

Frowning at him, the mechanic answered, "Of course. And right now it's our best chance of finding Jason and Clair." She sounded so confident that it was going to work, despite the fact that we're shooting in the dark here. Still, it would be interesting to see whether or not it blew up in her face, and a part of me was willing to bet that it would do that literally.

As I finished applying some more makeup to my face I decided to state the obvious. "Why are we waiting to test it? I think we should hurry up and get this over with" I still didn't understand why they were so determined to find them. None of us were really friends with those two, and the only thing I found unique about Clair were her Hocamli braids.

"That's why we're here. To test it." Putting in a series of commands, the inventor fired up her new machine. Whirring to life, the top lit up and began to blink as she brought up a holographic profile of Jason. "Find Jason." She said as the number for his holo-screen appeared beside him. For a few intense minutes it felt like I had been banned from the mall. Was it not going to work? Gri, I wish I thought of placing some bets because that would've been better than sitting here waiting for the next accessory to come out. I hadn't felt this tense since that time I was going to get that… no. From how tense everyone was it looked like this had the potential to be the biggest disappointment since me!

"Hello? Who is this?" Jason's voice was full of static, and his face which appeared was blurry, but it was full of surprise when he saw us. "You guys? Braxton? Eini?"

"Don't forget me and Johri." Grace said as she ended up hitting Braxton on the side of the head with her shoulder. "Oh, sorry."

I expected a snide remark from the blockhead we had just found, but instead a smile appeared on his face. "You have no idea how good it is to hear your voices again. But how did you establish a connection?"

"Well, when you use photons and send them out to find the receptors in your holo-screen..." Johri began to explain.

"On second thought, nevermind."

Clearing his throat, our leader began, "This is a good first step. Jason, it won't be long until we figure out a way to get you and Clair back here."

"That's going to have to wait. She disappeared." Jason turned worried. "We searched the entire… we searched everywhere, but we can't find her."

I frowned at that. Searched the entire what? He's hiding something. I can tell. "How do you lose her?"

"I don't know. I was in a conversation and she vanished. Can you use your device to find her?"

Nodding, Johri said, "Of course. I'm not a prodigy for nothing." As she ended the call, Johri entered the number for Clair's holo-screen, and we waited again for the doohickey to work its magic again. When the call was answered, what greeted us was… "Gri's beak! Who are you and what did you do with Clair?"

"I am Clair." The face said, though it was clearly not human. It was a mouse, dressed in a purple shirt and red jacket vest. As I looked, I could see the braids that Clair always had, and her eyes seemed to reflect what most people saw in her. And seeing the others just stare at our former classmate with those wide eyes and open jaws… it was too hard not to laugh at them.

Probably not the best time to laugh though. Looking at Clair I asked, "Why aren't you human?" To be honest, I was just asking to make polite conversation. I wasn't interested in learning about what had happened to her, despite the fact that she looked so adorable as this… whatever she was. Oh, I need to get my holo-screen to record this image forever.

"Well, I've been turned into a mouse. Apparently Kairi and I can't be seen as humans here." She said with embarrassment, before gasping as if she said something she shouldn't have.

Blinking, Grace asked her, "Who's Kairi?"

"She's a friend, but now's not a good time. There are these large reptiles in this room, and I don't want them to hear where we are."

* * *

 **Yep. I'm using Devil's Bayou from _The Rescuers_. I have been thinking about how to have the next chapter go, and I will say even though Bianca and Bernard hide in the film I know Mortem would do no such thing. Even if Brutus and Nero are the size of Godzilla compared to him right now he will still face them. I'm just trying to figure out how that would alter things from the movie. **

**Thanks again for your help and feedback, YamiChaos27 and Flautist4ever. I deeply appreciate it.**

 **Just a heads up, I might end up putting this story on the back burner so I can work on editing my book.**


	13. Eye for trouble

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Special thanks for looking over parts of the chapter**

 **Braxton, Eini, Johri, and Gracie belong to Flautist4ever**

* * *

Chapter 13: Eye for trouble

MORTEM'S POV

Devil's Bayou…

"Just stop showing up!" I snarled as I spun through another wave of the various multi-colored flying Heartless from Wonderland. Red, Blue, Purple, all colors ended up being destroyed by me as I kept my word to keep the dragonfly and his leaf safe from them. Still felt humiliating to cover mice and a bug from the Heartless, but my pride could wait. Those oversized handbags had that girl and the rodents were trying to help her, so I will work with them for the time.

Oh, great. Just what we need now, a thick fog. A big blanket of white surrounded us and impeded our sight. That gave the Heartless cover to strike at me from all sides. After the fourth Air Soldier managed to get the drop on me, I snarled at the fog and began firing randomly into the white. "I'll get you, you stupid-"

"Behind you!" Leroy warned me. Spinning my glider around, I managed to destroy the Air Soldier that tried to get the drop on me. "New plan. I spy them, you hit them."

"Can you see in the dark?" I asked the red koala monster.

"Duh. Two coming in at four-thirty!"

Turning around to that direction, I fired into the mist and felt satisfaction at seeing the glowing crystal hearts fly up into the air. Using Leroy's ability to my advantage, I managed to clear out the Heartless that were hiding in the fog. That's when I realized I could no longer hear Evinrude's wings that served as his motor. "Bernard? Bianca? You okay?"

"We're fine." I heard Bianca call up. "But we've lost them."

"No, we passed them!" Leroy said as out of the fog like a pair of tsunamis the alligators began passing us. With a snarl I flew at the one that held the girl, blasting it with my glider's cannon in an attempt to free her. I heard the boat start up again, but I was more interested in trying to get that girl free of the predators.

I felt my frustration mount as it felt like the attacks I was launching were not doing anything against the creature. Just how thick were these scales? With a roar, I changed my glider into Vengeful Chaos's scythe form and leapt onto the back of my target, slashing away at an attempt to try and get it to take notice of me. Oh, I'll free that girl if it's the last thing I do. Why do I care so much about this?

Raising my weapon up, I forced the blade down between the scales of the beast and fired a blast of dark energy into the opening I made. With a roar of pain and indignation the alligator released the girl, who thankfully had the sense to try and get away. Now to make this thing suffer for all the effort it put me through. Pulling back on the handle, I made a sweeping arc across the creature's back, leaving an injury that I hoped would get infected.

"Watch out!" Leroy called out as something struck us off the back of the alligator. With a growl, I managed to bury my weapon into the side of the monster, earning another cry of pain from it. Looking down, I saw the red koala monster holding on to the side as well, but his grip looked like it was slipping. "Help me!"

"Just swim for it!" I growled

"I can't swim!"

"Why not?"

"My molecules are too dense!" He said as a wave of water pulled him off. I had half a mind to let him figure his way out, but the way he spoke made me reconsider. The water did terrify him, and I just knew in my heart he was telling the truth. With a frown I kicked off of the alligator and dove into the water.

Using my powers it didn't take long for me to locate Leroy, and when I found him my suspicions were confirmed. The little monster couldn't swim, as he was sinking like a rock. Using the momentum of my dive and some dark energy, I got to Leroy as fast as I could and got hold of him. As we neared the surface, I felt his movements growing less and less frantic. Oh, don't you dare die on me. I still need you alive.

Pushing Leroy up, I made sure he got air first before I took a breath of smelly air that reminded me why I now hated swamps. While we both coughed and gasped for air, I willed my Keyblade to turn into something that we could use to float on the surface of the water. It ended up taking the shape of my glider, except with a wider base to allow it to float. As we sat on it and Leroy coughed the last of the water out of his system, I laid eyes on where the alligators were heading.

Ahead was a small island where a riverboat appeared to have crashed into it some time ago.

"Put me down!" I heard Penny protest. Turning, I saw her slung over the shoulder of someone in a black cloak that was marching towards the riverboat. Clenching my fists, I prepared to move forward when the figure turned and looked my way. Before I could react waves of water rose up around me, creating a box that froze into ice and imprisoned the two of us. Once she was satisfied, I was able to see the figure resume moving towards the wreck.

Gritting my teeth, I focused dark energy into the cannon of my glider only for Leroy to point at a corner. "Shoot there. That's the weak spot." He told me. "Quickly before the ice melts." Shaking my head, I blasted the area he indicated, only to find his calculations were correct. The box shattered and water came pouring in which freaked out the little monster. Stepping on the gas I raced out of the prison, turning to the riverboat.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

"What happened to you?" I nearly jumped out of my skin when I turned to Kairi after we passed through the door. "You've been turned into a mouse!"

As she looked at herself, the redhead didn't seem bothered by it at all. "So it is true. Sora told me how he, Donald, and Goofy changed into merpeople and animals in some worlds. You make a cute mouse yourself."

Huh? Raising my hand up, I froze when I saw it had become a paw. When I felt my face there was fur and a small snout. Was… was I a mouse as well? Kairi said I was, and I had no reason to disbelieve her. Still, it was freaky to think I wasn't human at the moment. "Why did we change into mice here?"

"I don't know, but the tower brought us here for a reason. We need to find out what."

Before I could say anything we both heard and felt footsteps. Looking at the opening from where we were, which was underneath some piece of furniture with a wooden bottom, we saw a pair of black shoes march past us. As I crept to the part where the light was shining, I saw a short fat man with a yellow suit head out the door. "Hey, who are you and why do you have the kid?"

"Well, she was trying to run away in a swamp. There was a strong chance she could've had a fatal accident out there." Someone said as they entered carrying a little girl over their shoulder. I couldn't understand why they were wearing a black coat. The air here was so muggy and hot. "You should be thanking me for bringing her back."

That voice… there was something familiar about it. Before I could dwell on it, the figure stepped aside for a pair of large reptilian monsters to come in. Why was one of them holding a teddy bear in its mouth?  
"Put me down, you old witch." The girl challenged the figure who held her.

Without a word the cloaked figure just dropped her like a rock. "You should be more careful who you insult. Next time I'll let the alligators eat you."

"They won't do that. That'll make Medusa angry, and they won't disobey her."

Looking at Kairi, I asked, "Medusa?" All I got was a shrug before we focused our attention back at the people, who were giants to us now.

"Give me my teddy bear back now, Nero." The girl ordered the alligator thing, which to my surprise dropped it without a fight. I had to admit, she was a brave little girl standing up to something like that beast.

The man in the yellow suit then turned to them. "All you two bring back is a teddy bear? Man, you leatherheads are slipping." When they started growling at him, the man began backing up from them. "Now, now, easy. Down, down boys. Heel, heel." He ended up climbing up a couch to put some distance between him and the predators.

"It wasn't entirely their fault. They were attacked by a pest in the swamps. You can see the damage on one of their backs." The figure said. "Which brings me to my reason for coming here."

"Because of a pest?" The man asked from his position

Waving a finger, the figure said, "Uh-uh. I don't discuss business except with the head, and you're not even the butt." That statement earned a giggle from the girl.

Frowning at her, the man said, "Now, Penny. Next time you misbehave I'll let Brutus and Nero have your old teddy bear."

"You will not. Besides I'm not scared of them like you are, Mr. Snoops."

That's four out of five names I knew now, and I found myself admiring this kid for her bravery. Frowning, the man called Snoops told her, "Now don't you sass me. Boys, take this naughty little girl to her room."  
"I can go by myself thank you." With that final word Penny headed up some stairs.

Shaking his head and muttering something about kids, Snoops turned the stranger. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable while I let Medusa know the girl's been brought back?" With that he left the room to head to somewhere else.

Looking at Kairi, I noticed she was looking at the cloaked figure with disdain on her face. "What is it?"

"That cloak. It's just like the ones Organization XIII wore." She said.

"Organization XIII? What's that?"

"They were a group of people who made so much trouble for Sora and the rest of us. At first we thought they were made up of Nobodies, but it turned out that wasn't the case."  
Blinking, I asked, "Nobodies? That's a strange thing to call troublemakers."

"Not that kind of nobody." My words made Kairi smile a little. "Nobodies are what we call people who don't have hearts. They're individuals who had their hearts stolen by the Heartless. Sometimes when a Heartless is created from a strong heart the body that's left behind begins to act on its own, but because a Nobody doesn't have a heart they eventually fade back into darkness. The only way to undo it is to destroy both the Heartless and the Nobody."

Her words made me shudder, but I couldn't dwell on it because we had to duck back under the furniture. Brutus and Nero were headed our way, and I was afraid they might've spotted us. I was so relieved when they continued to patrol the room without spotting us.

That's when I felt a vibration in my pocket. Raising an eyebrow, I pulled out my holoscreen to find I was getting a call. A call? But… that means… pushing the answer button, I couldn't help but feel tears swell up as I saw several familiar faces on my screen. However they all jumped when they saw me. "Gri's beak! What did you do with Clair?"

"I am Clair." Okay, that lack of recognition took away some of the joy I just felt.

Looking at me from where she was, Eini asked, "Why aren't you human?"

"Well, apparently Kairi and I can't be seen as humans here." I answered before I gasped. Why did I tell them about Kairi? It's not like I didn't trust them, but what if the person in the cloak heard? If they were one of the Organization then hearing Kairi's name might not be good."

"Who's Kairi?" Grace asked from where she was.

"She's a friend, but now's not a good time." Looking behind me to make sure the alligators weren't coming back, I explained, "There are these large reptiles in this room, and I don't want them to hear where we are."  
"What kind of reptiles?" Braxton asked.

"They're called alligators. Think an enlarged mutreag lizard with an armored back and that's an alligator."

"How big?"

"I don't know. Maybe fifteen feet. Point is, at this size they could eat us with no resistance, and being digested is not an end I would like to have."

Johri then spoke up. "Well, don't worry. Now that we have a means of communicating, we can relay information to get you and Jason back to Harthyn."

"That might not be the best idea." I warned her while turning to see Snoops enter the room. "There's this person in a black cloak here, and they sound familiar. I… I think it might be someone from the space station."

That got Braxton's attention. "Someone from the station? Who? How?"

"I don't know. If you want to know, check to see if there's anyone missing from there right now. I'll see if I can get a look at their face."

Nodding, Braxton said, "Understood. We'll let you know what we find out." With that, the call was ended and I looked at Kairi with concern. I didn't want to believe my words, but that's how the voice was familiar. It was someone who was selected for Yeller's space program, and if I was right that would mean there was a traitor in space.

Unfortunately I couldn't dwell on it for long because from outside came the sounds of something crashing against the wood, followed by some bangs that caused a cloud of black smoke to rise through the cracks in the door. They were soon forced open by an ugly woman in a black raincoat and hat, with what looked like a red dress on underneath. "Where is she? Where is she?" She asked, acting like she didn't notice the cloaked figure at all.

Stuttering, Snoops answered with an attempt at confidence, "I sent her up to her room."

"Why did you let her escape? What is your alibi this time, nitwit?" She asked while throwing her coat to the side and sitting herself down the couch. I couldn't believe at how oblivious she was at the fact that she wasn't alone.

As he began to pull of her boots, Snoops began to give his excuse. "Gosh, don't blame me Medusa. Those leather-headed lizards of yours are supposed to be patrolling the island. They let her get away."

"And I had to bring her back after they lost her when they were attacked in the bayou." The cloaked figure finally told Medusa that she and Snoops were not alone on the boat. I swear she nearly jumped out of her skin upon realizing that.

"Who are you? How did you get here? Why didn't tell me we had an intruder, Snoops?" Medusa asked as she swung a cane she carried at the man's head. Ducking from the swing, the man began stuttering out a series of reasons before Medusa growled, "Oh, shut up." Turning to the cloaked figure, she asked, "What do you mean, attacked?"  
"Someone has arrived in Devil's Bayou who will pose a threat to your plans." The figure said while giving us the name of this place at the same time. "Judging from the wounds on Brutus, I'd say he'd be the size of a mouse or a rat. Do not treat that lightly. Mortem is more dangerous than you can realize."  
Kairi and I looked at each other upon hearing that name. Mortem was here? And he was small? Why? What purpose did he have for coming here? This didn't seem like the place to find one of the Seven Hearts of Light, unless he knew Kairi and I were coming here. That thought chilled me to my bones.

Looking at the wounds on Brutus, Medusa cuddled him. "My precious pets. Don't you worry. Madame Medusa will make sure that nasty pest won't hurt you again." Turning to the figure, she growled, "I warn you. If you have come for the Devil's Eye, then you'll be making sure Brutus and Nero get their dinner tonight." I shuddered when I saw the alligators lick their chops at that.

Shaking their head, the figure said, "Relax. I have no interest in your oversized rock. What I want is something else. Tell me, in the records that led you to learn about the Devil's Eye did any of them mention a mysterious black box?"

"Black box? No, not that I can-." Snoops began to answer before getting whacked on the head by Medusa.

"That is none of your business." The woman told her. Getting to her feet, she added, "I appreciate your bringing back the girl, but the Devil's Eye will be mine. Eh, ours. No one, and I mean no one, will take it away from us."

With a shrug, the figure got up. "No matter. I got the answer I was looking for." As they spoke, a corridor of darkness appeared behind them. They moved to step inside, but paused to look back at Medusa, "Just so you know, I did leave behind presents to keep Mortem or anyone else from interfering with your treasure hunt. They won't harm you unless you let your greed for the Devil's Eye get the better of you. As long as you keep your desires in check you'll find the Heartless to be loyal servants."  
That comment made me gasp as the figure vanished into the oval of black mists. Heartless? Here? That wasn't good. Looking at Kairi, I was about to speak when I heard the man voice his thoughts. "Those monsters are called Heartless? Now, they're the things I've been trying to tell you about. They keep swarming around the Black Hole and the kid won't go with them near-."

"Snoops. I don't care about excuses. What I want are results, and the result I want most is that girl to find me my big diamond." I blinked at that. The Devil's Eye was a diamond? They have diamonds in this world too?

"But if that person knows about these monsters, maybe we should call this whole thing off. The kid brought up plenty of beauties that'll sell for a lot of cold cash."

"I want that diamond. I've got to have the Devil's Eye. You haven't left her down in the cave long enough, Snoops. That's why she hasn't found it. You are too soft, scared by a bunch of stupid pests."

"She won't take orders. The water was rising and the tide was coming in and all she did was complain about her teddy bear getting wet."  
"You don't have a way with children. You must gain their confidence. Make them like you."  
"Yeah? How do you do that?"

"You force them to like you, idiot! At the next low tide, I'm going to put her down there myself, and keep her there until she finds it, and it is as simple as that!"

"Oh, as simple as that? Well, you're the boss, boss."

"Yes. Now, come along and we'll get that cut looked at." She told her pets as she left the room with them.

Looking at Kairi, I said, "I don't know about you, but I say we need to get the others and make sure we get that girl out of here tonight."

"I agree. I don't want her to spend another second with that abusive witch. We'll have to use our Keyblades to get out of here though."

"You aren't going anywhere, Keyblade Princess."

* * *

BRAXTON'S POV

As the call ended I ended up looking at everyone upon hearing her suspicions. A traitor? Here? Could one of the Downtrod have infiltrated Yeller Sciences Space Station? No, something about that didn't seem right, and yet what else could it be?

"What's on your mind?" Johri asked.

"What Clair said." Looking at Gracie, I asked, "Is there any record of who sent Jason and Clair out of the station when that quake hit?"

The girl, who had been nodding off for some reason, jolted awake when I spoke to her. "Shake sit? I never sat on a shake before."

"No. The day of that tremor in space almost six months ago. Can you pull up the records of who sent those two out there on that day?"

"Uh… maybe? But the computers change the stored data about as much as Eini has outfits."

"Just do what you can."

"Where exactly are you going with this?" Eini asked me.

Looking at her, I said, "Clair suspects there is a tyrrluk in the station, and we're going to find out who. If we know who was where on the day they went poof, and who was doing what, we can start ruling some names out."

"What do we do if we find them?" Eini asked.

I paused at that because I hadn't thought that far ahead. "We figure out a plan to apprehend them and turn them over to the authorities."

* * *

 **I know this chapter was shorter, but I didn't want to bother Flautist4ever as she has a lot on her plate right now. Pretty sure I'm going to come back later and edit this chapter some more. Yami, Flautist, if there's anything that needs correcting regarding your characters, please let me know and I'll fix it ASAP**


	14. Plans of Trust

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Special thanks for helping to write and edit**

 **Gracie belongs to Flautist4ever. Special thanks for looking over the section with Gracie**

 **Jessica belongs to TheGoodandtheBadXBoy**

* * *

Chapter 14: Plans of Trust

Devil's Bayou…

CLAIR'S POV

"Mortem!" Gasping, I summoned my Keyblade, Divine Way it seemed to whisper its name into my mind. As the green stone that attached itself to my weapon caused the chain to rattle a bit, I prepared to face the dark warrior.

With a scoff, he said, "Chill out. As surprised as I am to see you here, and as rodents no less, I'm not interested in the heart of the princess at the moment."

Raising an eyebrow, Kairi then voiced the thought that was in my head. "Then why are you here?"

"Mortem. Do you know these two?" A feminine voice inquired, making me realize that the dark warrior was not alone. Coming in behind him were two mice.

"Unfortunately for the braided girl." Mortem answered before looking my way. "Now put that thing away before I knock it out of your hands."

Before I could think of anything to say the piece of furniture we were under suddenly started to move. Turning my gaze was met with the nostril of one of the alligators trying to get at us. How did that thing realize we were underneath here? Before I could figure it out Mortem just swung his Keyblade and cut the reptile on the nose.

Pulling back in pain made the animal toss over the piece of furniture, exposing us. The two mice that knew Mortem wasted no time running away from them and I was about to follow them. However, I let out a cry when I felt something step on my tail. "Oh, no you don't." Mortem said. "You want to live? You fight these things."  
"Are you insane? They're the size of kaiju!" I protested.

Of course the two monsters tried to eat us while we were talking, but both of them hit some sort of crystalline force field that appeared around us. The Barrier Spell. I remember reading about that, and I could see Kairi casting it while Mortem acted like nothing was wrong. "And you're a Keyblade Bearer. Act like it."

"Did you not hear me? They're as big as kaiju!"

"The size of the monster is irrelevant. When you hold a Keyblade they should be afraid of you. If you're too scared to fight, stay out of the way." With that he tossed me aside while he turned to face both predators. "You're with me, Keyblade Princess."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

What a joke. That girl has a Keyblade and she's still afraid of fighting foes bigger than herself? I swear, just like with that hot-headed idiot, her Keyblade must've chosen poorly. Whatever, I don't have time for cowards.

And meanwhile here I was having to work alongside one of my targets, this Keyblade Princess… I had no idea why I was calling her that. The name just popped into my head for some reason. I mean sure, Kairi was a Princess of Heart who can wield a Keyblade, so it's obvious how I'd come up with Keyblade Princess, and yet I couldn't shake this feeling that I've called someone else that before. Ugh, it didn't matter right now, as I had two oversized lizards to deal with.

Once the princess dismissed her barrier spell, I opened up with a fusillade of Dark Firaga spells. The two brutes snorted in a mixture of agitation and confusion, so I could only assume they never encountered prey that fought back. Turning to the one that I had fought in the bayou I held up my weapon. "Ready for some more scars, you prehistoric reject?"

Eyes widening at my words, the one I fought before lunged at me with jaws wide open. It didn't get close enough before the piece of furniture slammed down on top of its head. While I saw it was a large chair there was only one being at this size who could've lifted it. "Impressive, Leroy."

"Nothing to it." The red monster said as we turned to face the other beast. As it snarled at us, Leroy snarled back before leaping upon it. The reptile's eyes widened as it was picked up with ease by the little guy who laughed as he spun the green beast around before throwing it to the other side of the room. I had to admit, it was quite amusing see such a little creature lifting a much larger one. For a small beast, he certainly was proving himself useful.

I glanced at the other gator to see Kairi pelting it with spells. The Blizzaga spells she pelted it with seemed to make the animal uncomfortable, and made it take a few steps back. However, that was when I saw a gleam in its eyes. "Look out!" I warned as the animal began to swing its tail at her. Even though the tail managed to make contact the damage was lessened by the Barrier she managed to put up in time, though it was still enough to knock her back against the wall.

As she cried out, something strange happened. In an instant I didn't see the princess, but someone else in pain. The person I saw before, but who was she? Not knowing was getting under my skin, and in that instant I felt my rage flare up. Not anger in not knowing, but anger at seeing that person in pain. Don't ask me why, but all I knew was now these leatherheads were going to get it.

My darkness bursted out, summoning a bunch of Unversed as my Keyblade converted into its scythe mode. My Unversed proceeded to swarm both gators as I charged the one that attacked Kairi. It tried to snap up the Unversed to little effect, but soon several red cuts appeared all across its snout. Crying out in pain the massive head reared up in an attempt to throw me off, but I only embedded my scythe's blade into its nose so I wouldn't be thrown off. Summoning a large surge of dark energy, larger than what I had summoned before, I blasted both reptiles back into an old organ. Metal pipes clanged against the wood as organ pieces went flying all over.

"What in heaven's name is going on in here?" I heard the woman, Madame Medusa, return to the area to see the mess it now was. "Brutus! Nero! What have you two been up- aaaaahhhh!" The woman screamed before she scrambled up a smaller chair. "Snoops! There are mice in here! Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!"

She must've seen the others because her lackey came in trying to hit the others with a broom of all things. You had got to be kidding me. Running over to where they were among the wreckage, I returned my Keyblade to its true form and ran up the broom to the man Snoops. For some reason my gift kicked in, the ability to see the light and darkness in the hearts of others. Needless to say both had high amounts of darkness in them, but there was something else as well on his hands. Gunpowder? But that means… he shot me down? Oh, he had gone from inconvenience to target of my wrath!

With a snarl I transformed my weapon into its bazooka mode, and blasted the fat man with a surge of darkness. With a cry of pain, the man held his burnt face while he fell backwards into the woman who he served. Narrowing my eyes at both of them, I poured all the darkness I could into my bazooka and prepared to end them.

Right before I could pull the trigger something hit me from the side and knocked me to where the princess had reunited with those who couldn't be bothered to fight the walking handbags before. Growling curses under my breath I turned to see a human-sized Heartless standing between me and my prey. It had a resemblance to a Pirate, but instead of a sword it carried a pickaxe, and it had a warped parrot head instead. A few loose blades did protrude from its arms like fractured bones piercing the skin. "Are you freaking kidding me?!"

"What kind of Heartless is that?" Clair asked the princess who stood ready to face it.

"I don't know. I've never seen it before." Was the answer she gave.

"Crookedtoo." I said, not knowing how the name came into my head. Must be the connection to the darkness. "And it's going down."

With a roar the Heartless swung its weapon at us, but I simply leapt over it. Pointing my weapon at the beak, I blasted it with more darkness. However, that didn't seem to affect the Heartless one bit. Eyes widening, I moved to attack it with my Keyblade only for it to raise its arm at me. Before I could react it fired some of the blades in its arms at me, and I cried out as they cut me while the force of their movement forced me off the pickaxe.

"Mortem!" Bianca called out to me. "Be careful!"

"Gee, thanks!" I snapped as I leapt up to attack it again, but before I could launch an attack the gigantic abomination hit me with the pickaxe, sending me flying against the wall. I growled as I stood up, doing my best to ignore the pain. My anger grew as I gathered my darkness into my Keyblade. I pointed it at the large Heartless and fired a beam of darkness which hit it square in the chest.

As it clutched its chest in pain I smirked upon feeling the satisfaction of hurting it, but I let my guard down and it almost cost me. With a squawk the Heartless spun around like a twister, swinging its pickaxe the whole time. Rolling over, Leroy grabbed the pickaxe before it could hit me and managed to throw it back into the wall where Medusa and Snoops had been not too long ago. Now I was starting to appreciate having the little guy on my side.

Changing my Keyblade back into its scythe mode I ran forward and leapt up on the pickaxe. Charging forward along the wooden shaft I swung my weapon at the head of the Heartless. Shrieking in pain it did its best to throw me off by shaking its head, but I stabbed my blade into its temple in determination to end its existence. And I felt a strange sense of pleasure in making it hurt.

Then there was an explosion and silence.

* * *

Next thing I could recall was floating through air. There was nothing but blackness around me, and an eerie silence. What was this void? And what was I feeling? Regret? Shame? Why? Why were these emotions coming to me?

Then, there was a light so bright I had to cover my eyes. However, that was followed by the sensation of my head lying on someone's lap while my hair was stroked. "You've grown into a strong young man."  
"Wh-who are…" I tried to ask before being shushed. For some reason I chose to listen to this voice.

"Don't worry. It is not your time yet." The voice said. "You still have much left to do, and so little time before the day is done. Look to the light, and remember."

"Remember what?" As I asked that, the sensation vanished and I felt like I was being dragged down by something cold and wet. Flailing around I woke up to find myself being hauled onto a glider where Leroy, Kairi, and her partner were while Bianca and Bernard were getting into their leaf boat. Wait. Were we outside the riverboat?

Looking at me, Kairi said, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"What happened?" I groaned while feeling immense pain vanishing from a healing spell.

"Medusa pulled out some sort of long gun and shot you, though Leroy took the blunt of the attack." Clair explained. "She then began shooting at all of us and we all ended up out here. What I don't get is how you're still alive from taking a shot point-blank."

"Don't you believe in miracles?" Bianca asked her.

"A miracle is what we need right now." Bernard said. "Look at us. A group of mice can't do this job. It's too big for us."  
Growling, I turned to face the rodent. "Now listen here. I may not be here for the same reasons you are, but I'm not calling it quits. Those two losers attacked me with their fireworks and guns, and I have no intention of leaving this putrid swamp until they pay."

"There's something at stake here, something more important than your revenge." Kairi glared at me with an intensity that managed to put a spark of fear inside me, but it was easy enough to squash. "There's a girl up there they've kidnapped, and they're willing to risk her life to get some diamond. If we don't get her out of here she might end up paying the price for Medusa's greed."

"Why should I care?"

"Consider this making up for what you did to Alice and my friends not too long ago." Something about those words stung my heart. First I feel a pang of guilt about Alice and now I'm feeling the need to stop bad things from happening to Penny. What is it about kids that get to me like this? Then again, I myself know what it's like to have a dreadful childhood.

"What did happen between you two?" Bianca asked.

Looking at her, I said, "We're enemies. Plain and simple. You might be better off allying yourselves with those two."

"Stop it!" Clair suddenly snapped, earning my attention. "For Gri's sake, you want the same thing we do! To stop Medusa and Snoops! The two of them are our enemy just like they are your enemy, so that means we should be working together instead of fighting like narpols and jurdas."

"Clair is right." Kairi agreed. "We stand a better chance of success by working together."

"Please, Mortem. We could really use your help, and so can Penny." Bianca begged me.

Looking at me, Leroy said, "We can still get revenge on Medusa and Snoops by helping them. The odds of success are about thirty-seven percent with them, while it's only twelve percent with us alone."

Rolling my eyes, I looked at the Princess. "Let me be clear about one thing: I'm only helping you so I can kill those two goons. After that, I make no promises. Until Medusa and Snoops are at the bottom of the bayou I will help you rescue the kid."  
"We'll find another way to stop them without taking their lives." Clair insisted.

That was so funny I broke into laughter. "Kid, one thing I'll teach you about being a Keyblade Bearer: Sometimes you have to take lives in order to save lives."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

As we climbed up the side of the riverboat, I couldn't stop thinking about everything Mortem's been saying. I would have to kill people as a Keyblade bearer? No, I wouldn't do that. I'm not a murderer. And about monsters would have to be afraid of me? How could I fight a pair of reptiles that big when I wasn't at my normal size?  
But then, I did figure out how to beat Tamatoa. I used his love of gold against him with my magic, but that wasn't going to work on the alligators. They were completely organic, and I wasn't sure how well they would've conducted electricity. Was I overthinking things? I don't know. I still feel like I'm being asked to march to the home of Zudyss, or face Ryukumo with a needle for a weapon.

Approaching the window, the six of us heard someone speaking inside. Taking a peek, Kairi whispered to us, "She's praying." From what I could hear she sounded like she was at the end of her rope. One by one we entered through the broken window and made our way down to her bed.

"... and please let someone find my bottle with a message inside it because running away just isn't working. Amen." As Penny finished praying, she hugged her teddy bear and spoke words as if she was trying to comfort him. However, I got the feeling that she was trying to give herself hope and failing because she ended up breaking into tears on her bed.

That just broke my heart as we made our way down the pillow. More than anything I wanted to return to my normal size, take her in my arms and comfort her the way my Mom always comforted me when I was sad. Was this how she felt when I was scared or when I got made fun of at school for liking books? I hadn't felt this sad when Jessica's mother passed away several years ago, and when we stopped hanging out.

"Penny." Bianca spoke up to the girl. "Penny."

Looking up to see all of us on her bed, the little girl didn't seem scared by the fact that we were talking mice. "Yes?" Was it an average occurrence in this world for people to meet talking animals?

"Don't cry, Penny. We're here to help you." Bianca explained.

Continuing, Bernard added, "We found your bottle with your message inside of it."

"And we've come to get you out of here." Kairi finished for them.

That brightened up her spirits before she asked, "Didn't you bring somebody bigger with you, like the police?"

"N-no, it's just the two of us, and these four." Bernard explained.

"But we don't need someone bigger." Mortem interrupted while summoning his Keyblade. "With the Keyblade nothing is impossible."

"With all of us and a little faith we can do this." Bianca said.

Smiling, Penny remembered something. "That's what Rufus said. Sometimes a little faith makes things turn out all right."

"I know it's late, but we need to escape tonight." Bernard said.

Nodding, I added, "We overheard Medusa planning to keep you in a hole until you find this Devil's Eye, and it sounds like the place floods a lot."

"It does. But I just got caught by Brutus and Nero."  
"And I left Brutus with a new scar on his back." The dark warrior informed her.

"That was you? I didn't think anything could hurt those two."

"Now you know I can hurt them, and if they try to stop us I'll turn them into a nice pair of handbags for you."

"Those vicious monsters need to be locked up in a cage." The female mouse gave us her opinion of those two.

The girl's face brightened as that came up. "I know, I know. Come on, I'll show you." As we followed her out of her room, she pointed to some metal container at the bottom of the stairs. "See there? The elevator."

"Oh, it's perfect." Bianca said.

"It will be once I get it working." Leroy laughed as he curled up into a ball and rolled his way down the stairs. I wasn't sure how he was pulling it off, but I swear I heard the sounds of a miniature construction zone come from the elevator as the red… whatever he was got to work.

Mortem nodded with approval. "We lure them in using Clair as bait-"

"Hey." I said.

"There's no need. I figured out how they found us in the first place." Opening a satchel she had, the female mouse produced a perfume bottle? Why would a mouse need perfume? "They must've smelled this from before. We can use this to lure them in."

"Then we slam the door shut and we've got them." Kairi smiled.

"No need to slam it. It'll close on its own." Leroy told us while he continued working. It looked like he was using scraps from around the boat to get it working. That thing must be super smart to use all that junk to make the elevator operational.

Looking at us, Mortem asked, "And how do we get away from Medusa? You two weren't out there when she nearly ran me over with her swamp-mobile."

"We'll swipe it. I've always wanted to drive it." Penny began making a driving impersonation.

As cute as it was, I had to make a point, "But what if they catch us before we can get it to start?"

"There's only one way to deal with a mad dog." Mortem insisted.

"Let's try to think of another way first." Kairi told him. "There must be something we can use to distract them."

Thankfully Penny knew what. "Mr. Snoops fireworks. We'll shoot them off in her bedroom."

I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of that. But then I had to ruin it by asking, "Who'll fire them off in her room?"

"You will." Mortem decided for me. "You couldn't face the alligators, so you'll set the fireworks off in her room."

"But we'll need her to stop the Heartless, especially that Crookedtoo." Kairi told him.

Looking at her, Mortem stated, "You and I can deal with the Heartless. She's only dead weight."

"Oh, it's a wonderful idea." Bianca said. "What could possibly go wrong?"

"A lot of things." Mortem deadpanned.

"But it's our only chance." Kairi said. "Everyone has to do their part just right."

"We're going to need help." Bernard said. "Thankfully I know where we can get some."

* * *

Yeller Space Station...

GRACIE'S POV

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa." I tried to regain my composure as I brought Professor Yeller his tea for the day. The old man tensed up as I entered his private lab, leaning protectively over his devices while I came to his main computer. I did pause in my venture forward as he held his hand up because, well, that's universal.

Shaking his head, he told me, "Don't come any closer. I don't want any of this equipment to get damaged. I remember what happened the last time you spilled synthetic energy in here."

"I-I'm still sorry about that." I apologized again as I set the tea on one of the tables. "I guess your devices can't run on energy drinks."

"No, they can't. I thank you for bringing me my tea, but please go before you break something."

"O-okay, Professor." But I wasn't going to give up that easily. Spinning around as if I was about to leave, I made sure the edge of the tray caught my skirt to put my plan into action. Just as I predicted the tray spilled over coating me with hot scalding liquid and crashing against the floor. To sell the act I made sure my foot caught against a table leg, sending me falling forward over the spilled utensils. "Ow!"

With a growl, the elderly man grabbed his cane and came over to me. Annoyance and mild frustration were replaced by the wide eyes of concern as he noticed that I landed on the kettle and tray as well. "What happened? Are you alright?" As he knelt down to look over me I had to fight my revulsion of that man showing concern. "Is anything broken? Do you need the medical room?  
"N-no. The stupid tray caught my skirt and… oh, no. This was my favorite one. Now it's ruined."

"You'd better go change."

Change. That's what he needed to do, and I'm not talking about the retro lab coat and space uniform mixture he had on. But I needed him out of this room. "I… oh, I can't. I think it tore open my pants too. Yeah, it did. Oh, phooey." With a few sniffles I began to make it seem like I was on the verge of tears. "Th-this was the last thing my g-grandmother got me before sh-she passed away. N-now I've destroyed the last gift she e-ever gave m-me, and I have nothing else to remember her by!"  
"... wait here. I'll find you my prototype fabric restorer. Why did I have to let Herod borrow it to work out the bugs? No matter. But stay right there and don't touch anything. I'll be back before you know it." Walking to the entrance he left his lab to help me with my 'problem'.

Perfect. Just as I wanted. Getting up, I moved over to his personal computer and pulled out my microbot. "Okay, Spinster. Do your thing." As my partner activated, some wires moved out of him like tendrils and hacked into the professor's system. Smiling, I rubbed my hands together. "Okay, doc. Let's see what you don't want people to know you're working on. Spinster, make sure to patch this to HQ."

As the amounts of data passed by on the computer, I smiled as now my associates would be getting their hands on it. All in the name of the cause. I still can't believe I got chosen by the Professor Anton Yeller to be part of his space program. My Gracie Goodheart identity must be the best disguise I ever went with.

Huh? Project Dragr? What was that? Why would Professor Yeller make a project named after a corpse? Experiment successful? What does that mean? Pulling it back up I dared to open it, and what I found made my eyes widen. "Inserting microscopic parasitic bots into a corpse that would repurpose it to destroy any life within animalia? Why would someone make something so horrible?"

Spinster then started beeping. A transmission from HQ. Tapping the microbot's head, I answered, "Agent 1-3-7 here. Infiltration successful. Data being transferred now."  
"We're getting it. This is worse than we thought. If some of these items were to get out it would spell the end of the Downtrod." My superior said from the other end. "Any word on the fate of the two from the station?"  
"Some of the students have found them, against all odds." Taking a breath, I added, "They were sent to what they claim is a parallel world."  
"A parallel world?"

"Yes. I see them popping up in some of these other projects. There's too many to get a clear picture. We'll have to analyze them to get a clear sense." I explained as crazy as it was, but the Downtrod needed to know.

My superior then told me this: "We'll get the best agents to study these files. We'll know what Yeller is up to soon."  
"I sense it has something to do with this Mortem Contingency I see in a few files."

"We'll analyze it, and get back to you. Maintain your cover, find those two, and make sure they find their way to us. They might have knowledge that can aid us in our fight."

"There's more. We talked with Clair, and she claims that Jason believes there's a traitor on board."  
"To Yeller or to the station?"

"Unclear. But someone they fought seemed to suggest something bigger is going on, and I believe the answer is somewhere in Yeller's files."  
"Repeat, maintain cover. We'll contact you when we have something."

Nodding, I said, "Copy that. Agent 1-3-7, out." As communications ended, I gathered up Spinster once the last of the files had been sent. Still, I felt uneasy about some of the stuff I read. Project Dragr, the Mortem Contingency, and all the old data recordings of the reemergence of the kaiju. What does all this mean? I had a feeling this was not going to be good for anyone on Harthyn, so that means we have to stop it.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm trying to reveal more of what is going on. In Gracie's part something she sees is connected to Lost and Alone, because I thought it would be good to create a connection here and show that Yeller isn't the humanitarian he pretends to be.**

 **As for Clair in this chapter, I thought that Mortem's words and treatment could be good in helping her develop her character, and have her fully overcome her lack of confidence. My plan is that she strives throughout arc 2 in overcoming it, and this world is kind of the starting point for that part of her growth. You could say in a way Mortem is getting her to grow**

 **I will say I don't know when the next chapter will be as I'm going to be doing a short spin-off for Jason's father for the Christmas season. I intend on getting the story written in 5-6 chapters, and I intend on trying to make sure it's done by the 25. Nothing like pressure.**

 **Anyway, YamiChaos27, Flautist4ever, if there's anything you want me to add or change feel free to let me know.**


	15. A darkness is exposed

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

* * *

CHapter 15: A darkness is exposed

Devil's Bayou...

MORTEM'S POV

Ugh. What's the point in all this? Here I was outside on the boat with Leroy waiting for that dragonfly, Evinrude, those mice sent with backup for a plan to capture those overgrown lizards. It was a big joke, if you ask me. We could take them and that Medusa woman down no problem. But no! The mice prefer to just focus on getting Penny out of this place, the newbie Keybearer is a bloody coward, and the Princess is too noble for her own good. What a hassle. And what's more, that dragonfly was taking way too long. What was keeping him?

As I sat there staring at the night sky, something was gnawing at me. I couldn't get that image out of my mind. That silver haired girl… twice now did I see that girl when looking at Kairi. Who was she? Why did she seem so familiar? And what was it about Kairi that made me see her? And if that wasn't enough, there's that voice I heard while I was unconscious. I could swear I had never heard that voice before, and yet it seemed to know me. What's more is that for some reason hearing that voice made me feel... comforted.

I couldn't help but growl in frustration. I finally get one piece of the puzzle that was my memories, only to be presented with more questions. I wanted so badly to just rip that Keyblade Princess's heart out in hopes it'll help answer those questions. And yet something in the back of my mind keeps urging me not to. Why can't anything about this be easy!?

I was brought out of my thought when Leroy started tugging at my jacket. "Hey, hey! Look over there!"

I looked over to where the experiment was pointing, and saw a figure wearing a black coat, normal sized unlike us, standing a few meters from the boat. I could sense some kind of strange aura emitting from them. I wasn't sure if it was coming from the person themself or from the coat they were wearing, but either way it seemed to be masking their scent to some degree, I couldn't get a good read on their darkness or light. I wasn't sure why, but something about that person rubbed be the wrong way. And apparently I wasn't the only one who found them suspicious, as I heard a low growl coming from Leroy. He certainly looked like he was ready to get the jump on the figure if it wasn't for this boat being surrounded by water.

Then we saw a few Heartless appear before them and they seemed to be directing them somewhere. So this figure was the one controlling the Heartless here? I couldn't help but wonder just what they were up to. Then I could swear the figure glanced in our direction as if they noticed us, only to start walking away as if we were nothing to be concerned about. Okay, there was definitely something about them that I didn't like, and I just couldn't put finger on it.

Then suddenly some of the flying Heartless charge right at us one of them ramming right into me. Fury flared up inside me and was unleashed as I dispatched the Heartless in one swoop. Was this black coated freak mocking me?! That's it! Screw waiting around for that stupid dragonfly, this creep was going down!

As my Keyblade blazed into my hand I leapt into the air slicing through any Heartless in the sky, and those that tried to escape me by descending were destroyed as I spun myself in a funnel dive. Something about that move was familiar as I used it, but I decided not to dwell on it as I landed on some of the wet mud.

As Leroy landed next to me I ran forward, cutting through any Heartless that dared to stand in my way. The crystal hearts flew up into the sky joining the stars as I tore through the grass and undergrowth to get at my target. Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, they all fell to me as I ran towards my target. Several Shadows and Soldiers were also felled by my rage as I approached my target. "You dare to mock me?"

"It wasn't that difficult." The hooded figure said. "All necessary to get what I came for."

"Shut up." With a snarl I leapt up to attack the figure. As I brought my weapon down I made contact with something hard that I had not seen until I had attempted to strike this person. Confusion filled my mind until a thought came to me. A barrier? But this seems nothing like the protection spell I knew of.

I swear the figure had a smug look under their hood. As they raised their hand up I saw something forming… an arm cannon? How was that possible? With a smirk the figure pointed the weapon at me and it fired.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I couldn't believe it. Not only did the help Bernard said was coming fail to show up, but Mortem disappeared sometime during the night with that red creature. Leroy, I think he called it. Now all we could do was watch from Penny's pocket while she was dragged to a rock at the edge of the bayou.

"All right, you little brat. You're going to go down into that hole and you're going to dig until you find me that diamond." Mr. Snoops was ordering her while I frowned from the pocket the four of us were hiding in. "And no sassing me."

"Uh-uh, Snoops." Madame Medusa corrected him. "That is no way to speak to our Miss Penny." The woman even sold the act by hugging the child, though I had seen enough to know she had no affection for the girl.

It was horrible seeing this happen before our eyes. She was acting like a kind overprotective mother when she was a horrible grunsu. "If only I were six feet taller." I muttered under my breath.

While Snoops got the bucket ready, Medusa looked at Penny. "Now, my dear, you're going to find the big shiny diamond for your Auntie Medusa aren't you?"

"Teddy doesn't like it down there." Penny protested while backing away. "He's afraid, aren't you Teddy?"

"Ah, tsk-tsk. Poor Teddy." In a flash the woman swiped the toy out of Penny's arms. "I'll just keep him up here with me where he'll be safe."

Penny gasped, reaching for him, pleading, "No, give him back! He's mine!"

Medusa pushed her back with her foot, nearly sending us all down the Black Hole. "You get down there and find me that diamond or you'll never see the teddy again!" All false sincerity was gone from her voice.

With a nod, Penny agreed. "All right. All right. I'll go." As she climbed into the bucket, we were lowered into the dark abyss. I can't believe that woman is doing this to her. Clutching the inside of the pocket... why was I feeling this way? I hadn't felt angry, except with Jezebel. I still remember what she did years ago.

* * *

Harthyn…

Eight years ago…

"Why are you wearing that thing?" Jezebel Bruja was asking me before class started.

Smiling, I said, "A traditional Hocamli dress for my presentation. I wanted to share what I love about my ancestors."  
"Should you really be wearing that? I mean you're only half-Hocamli. Shouldn't this sort of thing be for someone who is a hundred-percent Hocamli?"

"Why should that matter?"

Frowning, Jezebel said, "Because the Hocamli are a proud people, unconquered and a symbol of this nation's might. You only carry half of the Hocamli genetic code in you. If your code isn't perfect, then you should claim a right."

"I am Hocamli. My grandfather said so."  
"Your grandfather is a liar. It's been proven that unless your genetic code is a hundred percent match you are not a certain nationality. Which means you can't be wearing that dress, and… what the heck is this?"

"A book about Hocam- what are you doing?"

Snatching the book about Hocamli legends away Jezebel began tearing the pages out. "This book is garbage just like you. If your parents didn't care to make someone with a pure genetic code then you are trash."

* * *

Present day...

"Clair?" Kairi asked.

I snapped out of it, glancing at her. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Kairi asked with the concern.

"No." I admitted. "I can't believe that woman. She's just as horrible as Jezebel.

"Jezebel?"

"More like the daughter of the devil. She's been tormenting me for years." Looking down, I remembered what she did when I did my presentation on my heritage years ago. "She... made me ashamed of being myself."

"You shouldn't be ashamed." Kairi told me. "Whatever she said about you, ignore it. She doesn't know you."

"She's right. That Jezebel has no right deciding what you should be ashamed of." Miss Bianca added while we continued to be lowered.

I glanced at the two for their words of encouragement. "Thanks. But now's not the time to worry about my past." Pushing my personal emotions down, I looked out the pocket into the dark abyss. "We need to find that rock."

"Right." Kairi nodded in agreement. As we reached the bottom of the dark cave we exited Penny's pocket while she took a lantern the creeps up above sent down with us. It gave us some light in this place.

"What a horrible place." Bianca said as we began looking around.

As I poked my head around one of the rock things sticking out of the ground like a tooth I let out a scream. What? What would anyone else do if they saw someone's skeleton sitting in a dark cave with a sword run through their chest?

Kairi quickly hurried over. "Penny, we wouldn't happen to be looking for a treasure pirates hid, would we?"

"Yep."

That explains a lot. I had to take a deep breath to calm myself down because that was absolutely terrifying. Please don't make coming across dead bodies a recurrence in the future. I don't want to have to keep stumbling across the final resting grounds of random people.

"Come on. We gotta find that diamond so we can get out of here." Bernard said as he started using a spoon to dig inside a chest.

"I already looked in there. Medusa doesn't want those little ones." The kid told him.

At that moment we felt the cave rumble, and that's when I noticed a giant hole in the ground. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Just looking at it made me feel like I was staring at the mouth of a beast preparing to devour us all.

"Oh dear... I think it is." Bianca replied as she looked at it with me.

Penny ended up confirming our fears. "That's where the water comes in." With a shiver she added, "I'm afraid to go over there."

"if I were a pirate, that's where I'd hide the Devil's Eye." Bernard said as he started to walk over.

"And lose it forever. No one would ever get it back." I deadpanned. But I could see there was space on the other side.

Kairi then began to move to the wall. "We need to get over there. "If there's a chance the diamond's on the other side we have to take it."

"But we don't know when that thing's going to blow."

"Part of the risk of being a Keyblade bearer."

Why did that not make me feel better while at the same time it did? This was so confusing. Guess if that was part of the calling I would have to answer. Moving to the wall, I began to follow her across.

"Watch yourselves, you two." Bernard warned us.

As we climbed along the sides, I found myself focusing on where my feet, or paws, or whatever they were called, were placed because one misstep and I'd die. Kairi moved along with grace and confidence. How could she be so calm about all this? Doesn't she know that- Gri's beak! The hole erupted in a cold salty fountain of water that washed over us! "Help!" I called out as my grip began to fail

I then felt someone grab my wrist. "Hang on!" I looked up to see Kairi holding on to me while her Keyblade was jabbed into the cave wall. "I've got you!" As the water stopped pouring she was able to pull me back up.

"What are you doing down there?" We heard Medusa call down.

Turning back, the girl called up, "I'm looking."

"Well look faster!" I swear she hissed that. Man, I wish I could shrink that woman and throw her down here. See how she liked being in a death trap.

"I am. Have a little patience, please." The girl said back.

Once I was pulled back to safety, the two of us finished crossing to the other side of the hole. Once there Kairi and I ducked underneath a sword lying on the ground while we looked for the Devil's Eye. Just how big was this diamond supposed to be, and how was it hidden so well? It wasn't long before Bernard and Bianca joined us, but even with their help we couldn't find where the diamond was. I couldn't see any sign of it anywhere, plus the lack of light wasn't helping.

Then, as Penny held the lantern up, there was a flash and then there were sparkles in the air. "What the heck?" Did it just come from the skull? Sure looked like it did, but what was it? I had to know. As the light died down, I got an idea. "Penny, hold the lantern up again." I requested while the four of us moved towards the remains. She did so and another bright flash of light appeared. As we looked in the skull, we saw the largest diamond I had ever seen lying in the cavity that used to hold the brain.

"Holy mackerel. That's it." Bernard said.

"The Devil's Eye." Bianca smiled. "Penny, we found it."

Running up to the entrance, Penny called up, "Medusa, I found it."

"Good girl. Let's get it up here." The woman called back down

Now we gotta hurry up although I wasn't sure what Medusa would do with Penny then after she got the diamond in her hands. I had my doubts that she'd take Penny back to wherever she's supposed to be. Bernard began to push the diamond to an eye socket to try and get it out but it was too big. Before Kairi and I could say or do anything more water came roaring in, flooding the skull. However it managed to drain quickly as we tried again.

"Bernard. We can't get it out that way. It's too big." I told him

"There's gotta be a way to move it out of here..." Bernard insisted.

"What's taking so long?"

"IT's stuck tight." Penny called up.

"Stuck tight? You get that diamond or you'll never see daylight again!"

With that threat, Penny began to move along the side. "No, Penny!" I called out to her.

"Back, back!" Bernard called out.

Gasping, Bianca warned. "You'll fall!"

The ground started shaking again and to our horror, Penny slipped as water came rushing over her, though she managed to grab onto something and get back to her feet. The skull filled up with water again. This was getting ridiculous. How were we supposed to... wait a minute.

"Forget the diamond. We have to get out of here before we drown." Bernard said.

Shaking her head, Kairi reminded him, "Medusa's determined to have that rock, and is willing to kill us to get it."

The hole erupted again, and the water began to pull Penny into the hole! Grabbing a rock, she called up to her captors. "The water's coming in! Please pull me up!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU GET THE DIAMOND!" Medusa's voice echoed throughout the cave.

Rock, and sword... of course. Basic science. "Penny, grab the sword and push the blade in between the teeth. Use that rock to support the sword."

Kairi quickly saw what I was going for. "Bernard, Bianca. Be ready to push that gem out." Summoning her Destiny's Embrace, she propped it in between the teeth. "Clair, with me. We're going to make sure your plan works."

Nodding in reply I called forth my weapon and placed it in between the teeth. Together we all strained to force the skull's mouth open. I couldn't help but feel that Penny was doing most of the heavy lifting. No, we were all working together. Bernard and Bianca were doing a great job at pushing it to the mouth, but the wider part was still stuck. Penny began using every bit of strength she had to get the makeshift lever to work. Was this skull made out of impenetrablium or something? YES! The diamond was finally through.

As she scooped it up we all realized something was wrong. We felt the cave shaking but no more water was coming in. "Now I suggest you give that diamond to me." A familiar voice ordered. The person from the boat, who told Medusa about the Heartless! Uh oh!

"Who are you?" Penny asked as she held the diamond close.

As we pulled ourselves free, Kairi warned her. "This person is trouble. She's the reason the Heartless are here."

With the snap of a finger the Heartless from the boat appeared and grabbed Bernard and Bianca. "Let them go!" I said.

"You're in no position to give orders here, Bookworm." As the figure said that I felt like someone dropped a mountain on me. It couldn't be. The only people who called me that were... but there were... someone in the program was a traitor! "Oh, you cannot imagine how amusing that look on your face is, Clair Fay. But enough of that." Materializing in her other hand was a cage, holding Mortem and Leroy. "It was so easy to lure these two out into my trap. Now, hand over the diamond or the rats get it." As Leroy struggled to break the bars the figure shook her head. "Oh, please. Don't bother. Those bars are made to withstand six thousand times your own weight. Double your limit. You're not getting out anytime soon. Now, the Devil's Eye for your... pets. And I would hurry. My power won't hold the tide back forever."

Penny's eyes widened as she hesitated. She wasn't actually considering it was she? If she did, we'd be trapped down here with the incoming flood. I could see she was torn, unsure of what to do.

"Don't give her the Devil's Eye." Kairi told her. I then sensed energy around the Princess. Was she preparing a spell?

With a growl the dark warrior turned to face the being. "I'm going to rip you apart for deceiving me!"

"Oh, be quiet." The person scoffed, making Mortem growl.

During that moment my mentor made her move. "Light!" With that a powerful blast flew from Kairi's Keyblade, hitting the person in the chest and knocking her back. Leaping up, the redhead swung her Keyblade and sliced open the bars

Mortem and Leroy leapt out of the cage at that. Transforming his Keyblade into a bazooka, he aimed at the figure. "Eat darkness, you-."

Snapping her fingers a powerful eruption blasted into the cave. We all got washed back while the light from the lantern was doused, enclosing us into darkness. I could still hear the dark warrior cursing in the blackness.

"No! I won't let my vengeance be taken!" Mortem snarled.

"Enjoy your death." I then sensed darkness and the figure was gone

I spat out some water, coughing as I gasped for air. How were we going to get out of this? Right now this was the most hopeless things had looked for us. Then the water parted around me and Kairi grabbed me. "Come on!"

With a splash the Crookedtoo leapt from the water screeching as it came at us. "Incoming!" Bernard warned us though it was too little too late. The Heartless grabbed my friend and I and held us up, and I swear it had hunger in its eyes. Oh, I did not want to have my heart taken by one of these monsters.

With a roar Mortem leapt up at the creature. Darkness coated his Keyblade, and seemingly extended it as he appeared to go mad there and then. First he sliced off the arm that held Kairi, drawing its attention to him. As it fired from its remaining arm the dark warrior weaved through them like it was an unchallenging obstacle course. As the Heartless released me to focus on its new attacker he poured more darkness than I had seen into his weapon. Leaping up until he was eye level with the monster he brought his weapon down upon it, slicing it in two. As the Heartless vanished into darkness the heart it held flew up and ascended through the cavern entrance as if marking the path we needed to take this second. As if we didn't need another reminder the hole erupted again, sending more water into the cave.

Gasping for breath, Penny struggled to maintain her hold on the Devil's Eye while she grabbed Berard and Bianca. "We have to get out of here!"

"Come on!" Kairi began to work her magic. She began pushing back the tide, but I could see she was being strained. One person couldn't fight back against the forces of nature, but I couldn't either.

Then the words Mortem told me when I couldn't bring myself to fight Brutus and Nero came back to me. "It doesn't matter the size of the enemy. You are a Keyblade Bearer." I haven't forgotten those words, but how could I fight this? No. Come on, Clair. Now's not the time for doubt. Merlin and Aerith both said they sensed something in me, and Kairi still believed in me. Maybe... maybe it was time I started believing in myself.

Closing my eyes, I tried to center and focus myself. You can do this. What was that feeling? It was like how I felt whenever my mom comforted me mixed in when I would sit and listen to the songs of the Hocamli tribe, of my people. It stirred something within me. I can't explain it, but somehow I felt a connection to the water and the rock. If only they could part...

"What just happened?" Kairi asked, prompting me to open my eyes. The water was consolidated in the hole, freezing solid. "No matter. There's our opening. Let's go!" Even though he was smaller than us Leroy curled up into a ball and made it to the boat before the kid did.

As we dashed to the bucket, we hurried inside while Penny threw the diamond in. "I got it! I got it! Hurry! Pull me up!" As soon as they heard that the bucket began to lift up just as the ice broke and the water came pouring in with vengeance.

The bucket was then pulled up away from the water, keeping us safe from drowning. I could hear Medusa urging Snoops to pull faster as we got closer and closer to the surface. As soon as we were close enough the woman snatched the gem out of Penny's hands. "At last! The Devil's Eye!" She cackled as she held the diamond up in the sunlight.

"It's worth millions!" Snoops said as he ran over, making the bucket go higher.

"Just look at it." Medusa seemed to lose whatever shred of sanity she had left. "Filled with power for its owner!"

Snoops got excited. "Let me have a look at it." He said. When Medusa only showed it for a second before turning it away he got upset. "That wasn't a very good look." As she went to grab the diamond he let go of the rope! Thankfully Penny was able to grab the sides of the hole while the bucket plummeted back in. "But I know there's enough there to cut up into two equal shares." The fat man continued ignoring her plight.

"You idiot!" Kicking Snoops back, Medusa growled, "Cut up a perfect gem? And it's all mine!"

"Half of it is mine, you double-crossing crook!"

"Mine! It's all mine!"

As the two argued, Penny was snatched by her dress by one of the crocodiles. When did they get here? "Put me down!" Ignoring her attempts to fight back they ended up carrying her after their mistress who continued to argue with Snoops about ownership of the diamond. I could now sense the darkness in her had increased significantly, like she was on her way to becoming a Heartless.

With a growl, Mortem moved to go after them, but Kairi and I grabbed him. "Not yet." My friend told him as she held him back.

"Why not? Best time to take them out, while they're at each other's throats." The dark warrior glared at us while the red creature agreed with him.

Shaking her head, Bianca asked, "Do you want those beasts to eat Penny?"

That made him pause and think about it. "... No."

"Then we need to think of a new plan to stop Medusa." The princess told him.

Shaking his head, Bernard said, "Not enough time. We're going to have to modify our old plan."

"How? Your dragonfly Evinrude was a no-show. How do you suggest we modify the plan?"

"We still have the trap." Leroy mentioned.

Mortem's eyes narrowed. "Which was to trap the alligators BEFORE they sent her down there! What point is there to trapping them now?"

"If they're trapped that'll leave Medusa two allies short." I told him. "You can deal with her as much as you want."

Looking at me with those golden eyes, the dark warrior asked me, "What if I said you needed to take her life? What if I refused to go along with anything we come up with unless I hear you swear that you will be the one to end Medusa?"

Shaking my head, I gave my answer. "I am not, and will not, be a murderer. That's a line I refuse to cross."

"You'll be forced to make that choice one day. Kill or be killed. One day I swear you'll stand at a crossroad where you'll be unable to keep your life unless you take another. Sometimes there is no way out except to betray yourself."

"Not true." Kairi stepped up. "There's always another way Mortem. Death isn't always the answer. There's more to holding a Keyblade than death and destruction. Those who are chosen to hold one can also bring life and creation."

With a scoff his response was, "Easy for you to say. You were able to seal the water back there to get us out of that abyss."

"That wasn't me. It was her."

Now all eyes were on me. "Whoa. How did I do that? How are you sure it wasn't you?" I asked her.

"Because I watched you. I saw you glowing, and then the spell was unleashed." Putting her hand on my shoulder my friend continued, "Clair, our escape was only possible because of what you did. Don't sell yourself short again."

Shaking his head, Mortem said, "I think this is pointless, but fine. I'll play along just so I can rub its failure in your faces later when our truce ends. So, almighty mage, what's your plan?"

* * *

Back on the boat, Mortem, Kairi, and I were moving towards a room where the dark warrior claimed he sensed Medusa's darkness. Bernard, Bianca, and Leroy were already at their position with the trap ready for its next residents. I noticed a nail sticking out on our side of the door while there was a handle for something on the other. Inside Snoops was calling his former boss a swindler. So we just needed to sneak in and tie her ankles… oh no. That wasn't going to work.

Medusa was in there pointing her rifle point blank at both Snoops and Penny, who were backed against the wall. Warning them if they followed her they would be shot, I noticed the horrible woman still had the teddy in her hand. Why would she be protective for a toy unless…

With a growl Mortem prepared to move in and attack Medusa, but I stopped him. "No. We attack her she might shoot Penny on accident."

"You're changing the plan again? To what?" He snarled at me.

"Can you change your Keyblade into a chain or something to lasso around that valve over there?" I showed him which one I had noticed and prayed he'd catch on to my plan.

Eyes widening in realization, Kairi managed to turn her Keyblade into a whip that she threw and lassoed the valve with. Using the nail to make sure it was good and tight, the princess began to pull. Rolling his eyes and muttering about how stupid it was Mortem followed her example and the two of them waited while Medusa backed out unsuspecting. With a cry our common enemy fell flat on her back from our tripwire, firing a shot from the rifle while Penny's teddy went flying.

As it landed on the deck the back split open revealing why the woman refused to give the girl back her toy. "My diamond!" Medusa's cry prompte Snoops to try and snatch the jewel for himself. His former boss, however, tripped him while Penny ran by and snatched up her bear.

While the two adults fought with each other over who should have the diamond, I ran forward with Mortem and Kairi, Keyblades summoned and ready to do some damage. I proceeded to attack Medusa's arm while Kairi unleashed a flurry of spells on the wicked being. Mortem, however, was not as gentle. Leaping up he jabbed his blade deep into the back of the woman which horrified my friend. "Mortem, stop! Killing her wasn't the plan."

"I'm following my own plan." The dark warrior growled as I sensed dark energies pouring into his Keyblade. Holy feathers! He was going to blast her insides.

No way I was going to let that happen. Running up the body of the woman, I focused on anything I could do to keep him from murdering someone I didn't even like. Why was I trying to save Medusa? I hate her, but I wasn't about to stand by while someone was murdered. Channeling my magical energy, I fired a Fire spell at Mortem while I reminded him, "The plan isn't to kill Medusa."

"It is for me." He growled while he ripped his Keyblade out of her back to deflect my attack. "I should've known a coward would not have the stomach to do what needed to be done."

"Valuing the lives of others isn't weakness."

His response was to try and take my head off. "You are an idiot. Sparing those who have no value because of their actions. You are a mistake just like your Keyblade."

His words brought back bad memories, the reminder of why people teased me because I was only half-Hocamli, and I just snapped. "I am not a mistake!" With that I leapt at him, slashing at him with my weapon. He managed to block my attack but I was not going to stop that easy. Leaping back I threw a thunder spell at him which he managed to parry although he failed to see the Blizzard spell I threw at him.

Growling as his left hand froze from my magic, he rushed at me with a determination I could feel in my heart. I tried to dodge but he corrected himself and made a sharp turn to ram me into a railing. As we both leapt to our feet, I could feel the pain from getting rammed into rotting wood. No. I was not going to let him be one of those jerks who made me ashamed for anything about myself.

As he rushed at me, I felt the same energies from the cave enter me again, only they were a little different. It was like a huge wind combining the pride I felt for my heritage mixed with the anger I harbored for the words people spoke to me over the years. Narrowing my eyes, I pointed my hand at the dark warrior, and the wood in front of him exploded. Even he looked surprised as the splinters flew up and knocked him back, leaving him with several deep cuts.

However, I could see that it only made him even angrier. He glared at me as he transformed his keyblade into its scythe form, which then began charging dark electricity. He pointed the scythe at me, as if intending to send that electric energy on me. I had to do something before he unleashed that attack. I remembered how to do the Barrier spell, but I didn't want to just keep myself from getting hurt this time.

Running forward, I held my Keyblade up while Mortem unleashed his electricity upon me. I braced myself to get electrocuted when all of a sudden the field that was essentially the Barrier spell appeared around me. Instead of only working when I was stationary, it seemed to push aside the electricity while I ran towards my opponent. He seemed to notice what I was doing and ceased his electric beam before pulling his scythe back and gathering more dark energy. It was too late to slow down as he swung his scythe, colliding with my barrier rush. I noticed my barrier crack as I was bounced back into the wall.

With a gasp my spell faded before Mortem rushed up to me and grasped me by the neck. I tried to pull free of his grip but he only tightened it. No. I didn't want to die here. However, he failed to notice someone behind him. "Let her go, Mortem." Kairi ordered as she held her Keyblade up to him.

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't then you'll have to fight me."

"I warned her something like this would happen. The only way out is for her to take my life before I take hers. And you should learn to stay out of fights that aren't yours."

He really wasn't going to listen. He was determined to have blood on his hands, and I was the unlucky soul who was about to meet her ancestors. But I wasn't done with life yet. I had to get back home, to Mom and Dad. Thinking about them seemed to give me some strength as I managed to start loosening his grip.

Mortem then looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Well, you're determined to live, I'll give you that. Tell me, why do you fight death?"

"My… parents… I want… to see them… again…" I strained to get free.

"Your parents? Hah! What good is family? I'll tell you. Nothing."

"No. Families… love…"

"Families are a lie. To them children are nothing but a burden to be disposed of at the earliest convenience. It wouldn't surprise me if they arranged for you to be kicked off your world so they wouldn't have to think about you."

That did it. I mustered all the power I could and with a cry I blasted him back with my magic. I also heard a sickening snap, and realized in my rage I broke some of his fingers. Because she had been behind him my friend was also blasted back by my attack. With a roar the dark warrior charged at me, but I parried his blow. Channeling more magic I pushed him back and used a blast of magic to send him flying. As he landed I propeled myself forward and pinned him to the ground.

Bringing my Keyblade up I prepared to drive it into his chest when I paused. What had I done? I had just attacked him in aggression. And some of my attacks… they were dark in color. Oh, no. I had gotten angry, and let that drive me. I had given in to my darkness, and almost took a life as a result. Falling backwards, my weapon vanished as I backed away from Mortem. My friend got between me and him in case he tried something.

Instead, all he did was dust his shoulder off. "So, you can fight." His eye narrowed. "And still you didn't kill me when you had the chance. Just goes to show that as long as you fight for others you are only holding yourself down."

"No, Mortem. She stopped herself before she did something she would've regretted." My friend defended me. "And fighting for others gives me a purpose. If you go through your life focusing on yourself then you're not going anywhere."

"Kairi, please." I told my friend. "I-I need to stand for myself." Forcing myself back up, I glared at Mortem. "Maybe I should've ended you if all your going to be is a self-important jerk." My words felt empty as I thought about what I had done. My actions had been those of darkness, something I had not wanted to use. How different was I from the person who I was facing?

Before anything else could be said, an insect wearing a blue sweater flew up to us. Mortem's eyes widened with recognition. "Evinrude? It's about time you showed up. What kept you?" The insect gave a series of buzzes that somehow we all understood. "What? What do you mean the boat won't start?" Turning to me, he said, "Looks like you get to live after all kid. But next time you challenge me don't expect to walk away unless you are willing to take a life." He's dropping our fight just like that? What made him do that all of a sudden?

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

As I lept down to the boat we were supposed to escape on, I was reunited with Leroy. "The trap worked." He told me with a smile. "They were shocked nice and good." Then I heard familiar whistling as fireworks flew everywhere. "And the show is going to go on."

"How did you… nevermind. The boat won't start." I told him as the two of us landed on the boat. There were some other critters trying to help, the reinforcements no doubt. As I landed I looked at Bernard. "What's wrong? Why is this boat still here?"

"We're not getting any gas." Bernard said as he looked down a valve. A couple of thuds told me the two I had just been fighting arrived as well.

"What do we need to do?" The princess asked me.

With a shrug, I said, "Something to make this rustbucket go."

"Stand back." Moving over to the valve, she gathered orbs of light in between her hands. With a cry she shoved them down into the gas tank, and with a puff the boat roared to life. However, just as we were moving, Medusa leapt out of the mess and grabbed on to a rope. With a look of greed she pulled herself up to the edge where the teddy was.

Snarling, I frowned, "Oh, no you don't!" With that, I stabbed my weapon into her hand. With a cry she fell backwards, though she ended up grabbing the end of the rope before we could get too far ahead. Pulling herself off, she looked like she was trying to ski on water. It would be amusing if she didn't try to keep pulling herself to our escape craft. I knew I should've killed her when I had the chance.

As if sensing my anger and frustration my Keyblade transformed into its bazooka mode. As I took aim, I fired a steady stream of dark blasts to keep her at bay. If I missed I found she would get further up on the rope, but every time I hit her she fell backwards. In a strange way this was kind of fun. I mean it was enough to make me smile with pleasure. As I did there, a loud explosion shook the bayou prompting us to look to see the riverboat was now on fire with a pillar of smoke rising up into the air. Something ended up splashing in front of us. The gators. Guess the explosion freed them, but our boat ended up missing them. However, Medusa ended up crashing into them, riding them like a pair of scaly skis. As she saw her new mode of transportation, she began whipping them mercilessly. Did she think that would make her go faster?

As we got closer to the riverboat, Penny did a u-turn that was so sharp the rope Medusa was using snapped in two, sending her and her pets flying into one of the smokestacks. Well, just Medusa. The two reptiles continued to fly forward, and I was sure I saw Snoops paddling away on a makeshift raft. Sorry, but you're not getting off that easy. Turning to him, I fired a massive blast that sent a column of water flying up where Snoops was. Failing to sense his own individual darkness I settled the fact that he was no more.

"Happy now? Or do you still want Medusa dead?" Kairi asked me while everyone else celebrated escaping the woman.

Turning back to the riverboat, I saw her clinging for dear life while her former pets snapped at her from beneath. Guess she lost their loyalty. "Nah. I wouldn't want to deprive her pets of their next meal."

"Goodness gracious." Bianca's words gave me reason to turn around. The Devil's Eye hidden in the teddy bear was glowing, and shot a beam of light into the sky which produced a Keyhole. Summoning her Keyblade the princess pointed it at the Keyhole and a beam of light shot from her Keyblade that entered the Keyhole. As that happened, the light faded.

Looking at us, Penny asked, "What just happened?"

"That's our cue that it's time to go." She answered the kid.

"Do you have to?"  
"I'm afraid so, Penny. But we'll still be with you. Our hearts are connected now. And true friendships never end."

Oh, brother. Well, I guess it was time for business. "Now that we've rescued Penny, our truce is at an end." Calling forth my Keyblade, I pointed it at her. "Now I will take what I want."

"What's going on?" Bernard asked. "What's the meaning of all this?"

Glaring at him, I ordered, "Stay out of this rat. This is personal."

"Rat?!"

"What are you doing? I thought we were all friends." Penny said

"You thought wrong. I'm not friends with anyone because I don't want or need them. I work alone, just me."

"Yeah. Just us." Leroy added, and I chose not to correct him.

Holding her weapon in defense, the Keyblade Princess told me, "So you do a good deed and you proceed to destroy that image? You were a hero to her."

I couldn't help but chuckle pitifully at that statement. I then glared. "Am I? Do you honestly think I am hero material?! DO YOU?!"

"I know you are." As she said those words, her appearance changed again. In her place was the silver-haired woman that I had seen before, and all desire to take her heart left me. Why was I feeling this way?

I grunted in frustration as I lowered my weapon. "I am no hero. All I've ever been and will ever be is a demon!" Why was I getting a sense of deja vu? And why did I feel ashamed to admit that? With a growl, I just opened a corridor of darkness. "You know what? I've had enough of this stupid swamp and only being a few inches tall. I'm getting out of here, and next time we meet you had better be prepared to do what needs to be done." With that Leroy and I stepped into the corridor and left this world behind.

* * *

 **And that's it. Soon it will be 2019, and I wanted this chapter to wrap up Devil's Bayou, so now we're done. I wanted to give a special shout-out to YamiChaos27 for helping write out the sections with Mortem from his capture to his brawl with Clair and his parting words, and thanks to AquaDestiniesEmbrace and TheGoodandTheBadXBoy for helping role play this chapter so I could get it written faster.**

 **I wasn't planning on having Clair have to struggle with some darkness of her own, but it ended up evolving that way. I think it worked out to show the untapped potential she has, and how to avoid making her seem like a Princess of Heart. Now the two sides know she has darkness in her heart, and Clair does not like that one bit.**

 **And with this chapter the first arc of Journey of Discovery Final Mix is finished. Just two more arcs to go. Hopefully this year I can get through these chapters faster.**

 **Oh, and Flautist4ever? I'm sorry I didn't include a section following one of your characters? I wasn't sure what to have happen with them next, but with arc 2 they're going to be getting some more attention and hopefully character growth.**


	16. Growing pains

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Jessica belongs to TheGoodandTheBadXBoy**

 **Johri and Eini belong to Flautist4ever.**

 **Special thanks to AquaStormfall and TheGoodandTheBadXBoy for helping with this chapter, and to Flautis4ever for helping with the Johri section.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Growing pains

The Mysterious Tower...

JASON'S POV

Where did they go? I couldn't find Clair or Kairi anywhere in the Mysterious Tower. I crossed my arms, sighing to myself. Where could they have gone? The old geezer said not to worry, but I was. How could I not?

"Still worrying?" I heard Riku ask me, and as I turned I saw him leaning against the wall.

With a nod, I answered "Yeah."

"You don't have to. Clair is with Kairi, and I've seen her hold her own against many dangerous foes." The Keyblade Master tried to comfort me. It didn't work.

Don't get me wrong. I still remember how well they fought, but even all three of them were no match for Mortem back in Wonderland. WHat would Clair and Kairi do if Mortem ambushed them in… whatever world they were in now? It seemed like if they came across him they wouldn't stand a chance.

"It was pretty hopeless when we fought Xehanort." Whoa. Did Riku just read my mind? I looked at him but his face gave no indication as to if he could see inside my head.

Shaking my head, I told him, "That example doesn't really help."  
With a sigh, Riku explained, "It seemed he would get his way, but in the end he lost. Have faith."

Right as he said that a door appeared next to us that prompted me to take a step back. Why must magic do crazy things? As the door opened the people we were just talking about came through it. "Clair! Kairi!"

"We're back." THe princess said as the door closed and vanished.

"Where did you go?" I asked.

Looking down, Clair answered, "The door took us to someplace called Devil's Bayou. We ended up helping someone, but we also ran into Mortem."

"What?"

"He helped us at first, but then he…" Kairi seemed to trail off. "I believe there might be some good in him."

I nearly did a double take. "Mortem _helped_ you guys?" I repeated incredulously.

Nodding, Clair added, "Then he attacked us once the truce was over."

"How are you two still alive?"

"It wasn't easy, but Clair used some powerful magic to even the odds. She's got some major potential as a mage."

"For all the good it did." She looked down, and I could see her eyes were full of pain. Before I could ask her, she told me, "I don't want to talk about it." With that, she walked off with her head down. What happened back there? Why didn't she want to talk with me about it?

* * *

"You two have experienced some great hardships since you began your adventure." Master Yen Sid told us as we were in his office chamber thing later.

"We have..." Clair nodded.

Stroking his beard, the old wizard told us what he thought we should do. "The two of you need to return to Radiant Garden. Report to the Restoration Committee that you were able to make contact with your friends on Harthyn, and see about establishing a more permanent means of communication. From there you will be able to find a means to return to your world."

Clair and I exchanged a look at that, and I could see that brightened her day. For me, however, it was just a reminder of the mistakes I made. "Look, that's great, but... I don't think that's what I want." I admitted. "I don't want to go back anymore."

Not only did that surprise the others, but my cousin did a double take? "What? Why not, Jason?"

"Because of some of the things I learned out here. Ever since Motunui, I've realized something. I've spent so long living the life my father wanted that I don't know what I truly want. If I go home I'll never know what that is. So I won't. At least not until I know what I want to do with my life."

The joy went out of her eyes upon hearing my words. "Jason."  
"Very well. But you should still return to Radiant Garden to establish more stable communications. Once that is done then your friends can work with the Committee to find a way home once you feel you are ready." Master Yen Sid instructed me.

That made sense. "... Okay." I agreed to his instructions.

With a nod, he then turned to Clair who had been looking down. "Master Yen Sid, I…"  
"You do not need to tell me anything if you do not wish to. If you are comfortable seeking help from Merlin or Aerith my advice is to do so." The wizard told her.

"Thank you."  
"Well, I need to get back to Radiant Garden anyhow." Scrooge said as he headed to the door. "I suppose I could give you two a lift."

"Sounds good." I agreed.

"Thank you." My cousin added, to which Scrooge gave a nod.

* * *

As we flew through the Starocean, I reflected on the choices I've made since we left. Gri, what an idiot I've been. I tried to do things the way I've always done them, but all that accomplished was nearly getting me killed and alienating us from allies. Maybe… maybe I was the one who needed to change. Why hadn't I realized that before? Maybe it had something to do with how Dad… no. I won't say raised because I never felt like his child. More like his tool. But how could I change myself when this is all I knew how to be?

The console then beeped as Cid's face appeared on the screen. "We'll be arriving shortly." Scrooge told him as he answered.

"Got it. We'll be waiting for you." THe old guy said as he hung up.

"We're almost back?" Clair asked. I had to admit it was strange that we didn't encounter a single Heartless craft during this flight.

"Aye," The old duck answered, "And soon you two will be out of my feathers."

"You're leaving us?"

"Aye, because your kin has been nothing but trouble! He's ruined so much business opportunities for me, and I say enough. Once we land I'm finding you two another babysitter to put up with the trouble you bring!"

I wanted to snap back at him, but I stopped myself because he was right. I did cause us a lot of problems, and now it may be time I started paying the price. But did Clair have to suffer for my actions too? While I thought about this I continued to look out at the stars instead of talking back to our pilot.

"Jason?" Clair ended up getting me to look at her. "Are you okay?"

"... Yes." I lied to her. I hated doing that, but I didn't want to burden her with my problems. This was something I was going to have to figure out on my own. Besides, it sounded like she had her own burden to bear. Something that carried more weight than my uncertainties.

* * *

It wasn't long until we had docked at Radiant Garden and we were shooed off the Gummi. The place was still as I remembered it with construction going on and people helping each other as they rebuilt their community like they have been for several years now. At least they seemed to have an idea of what they wanted.

When we were off, Scrooge began to walk into town. "Now to find Cid and get him to find you two another ship because you won't be using mine anymore."

"Wait." I finally spoke up. "You have every right to kick me off, but don't do the same to my cousin. I was the one who gave you grief, not her."

"My ship. My decision." Scrooge insisted.

"That is true, but it's also true that she's innocent of what I'm guilty of. So if you don't want to help me anymore, don't. But don't let her pay for my actions."

For some reason, my words stunned the duck. Either it was because what I said had an impact or I was such a jerk that hearing such words was shocking. Regardless, I didn't stick to find out. Turning I began to leave the area just as Scrooge wanted. "Jason, wait." My cousin called out to me.

"My mind is made up." I answered without turning. I couldn't bear to see her disappointed with me, and right now I feel like if I stayed I'd only hold her back.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

My heart ached with the horror of what happened on Devil's Bayou and from seeing my cousin leave us. I've never seen him like this, doubtful and uncertain. He used to be so sure but now… he seems like he's lost without any means of finding the right direction. It's like some part of himself has been destroyed and he's struggling to come to terms with it.

While I watched him depart I felt someone tug on my jacket. "Well, come along." Scrooge instructed as he started heading into town. I took one last look in the direction Jason went before following the old duck. I hated leaving Jason like this, but like Master Yen Sid told me I needed to talk to someone about what has happened. I was hoping Aerith would be available because I don't know why, but she makes me feel comfortable. I needed to speak with someone about the bayou and she seemed like the best person.

After some weaving through town we managed to make it to the headquarters of the Restoration Committee, where Scrooge knocked on the door with his cane. Thankfully the person I was looking for answered. "Clair. Scrooge." Aerith said as she motioned for us to come inside. "Welcome back."

"And it'll be more welcome without a certain teenager." Scrooge then marched into HQ

Turning to me, Aerith asked, "What happened?"

"At lot."

Placing her hand on my shoulder, she asked, "Stuff that requires privacy?"

* * *

The old abandoned church was a good place to think and be alone. Although many columns had fallen and there was a hole in the roof, it seemed to add to the tranquility because of the light that shone through. Aerith and I sat in the middle amid the flowers that had grown thanks to the sun shining through the hole. "What happened on your journey?" The cetra asked me.

I ended up telling her everything that had happened, from Jason's reckless behavior in Agrabah and Motunui to Mortem getting the first heart in Wonderland. When I reached Devil's Bayou I wanted to keep quiet about it because my heart was shaking with fear and apprehension about how she would take it. But then I remembered what my father had told me about how in the past people couldn't get help from medical helpers if the patient wouldn't tell them all the symptom, so I told her everything about Devil's Bayou including my loss of control.

When I finished, I looked down, afraid of what her reaction might be. I will be honest, I was not expecting her to hug me. My eyes widened as I was taken aback by this gesture, but before I could say anything Aerith whispered, "It's okay, Clair." Slowly, I felt myself return the hug. This reminded me of how my mother would always comfort me when I was sad or scared. Oh, how I missed her. Thinking about her and Dad made me homesick, and wishing I could get back to them as soon as possible. However, that also reminded me of how I lost control when facing Mortem. "Your anger came from the love you have for your parents." The cetra continued to comfort me. "It's not wrong to want to protect your family." Her words caused me to look up at her. Before I could say anything, she added, "Just try to not lose your temper next time."

"I-I'll try." I promised.

"And be sure to forgive yourself."

I paused at that. "Forgive myself? But what about-?"

"There's nothing wrong with making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, but that doesn't mean you're bad. It just means you're still human."

As I sat there I pondered her words. Mistakes only mean I'm human, but shouldn't I try to be better? And try to avoid making mistakes altogether?

"What's important is that you keep trying."  
Guess that confirms it. Reminds me of how Jessica taught me giving up isn't a pleasant solution. I still miss my old friend.

* * *

Eight Years Ago…

Harthyn…

Several of the students in class were laughing as Jezebel tore my project apart. How could she do that? I loved my heritage and she was saying I had no right to it because my father isn't a Hocamli? Oh I wish I wasn't here right now.

"Feeling like you're pure Hocamli now?" Jezebel taunted me while I stared at my broken project. The sight of my pride and hard work in pieces was too much, and I ended up breaking down into tears. Why? Why did this happen? I could hear Jezebel tearing out another page as she asked, "How about another piece of trash?"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" I heard my classmate Jessica call out. As I looked up I saw she was wearing her usual blue dress, but her face was just really angry. As she came up to us with a frown several students stopped laughing and quickly developed an interest for their desktops.

"Stay out of this, Jessica." Jezebel warned her.

Still frowning, my friend just responded, "Leave her alone." When Jezebel didn't do anything she just shoved the mean girl back to get to me. During this, I was still sobbing because my project was now ruined, but I did try to hold back the tears with no effect.

As she got up, Jezebel growled, "Stay out of this. She's only trash as her genetic code isn't pure."

"Excuse me?" Jessica asked. "It's you who isn't perfect, or did you forget how your people are only here because the Hocamli ALLOWED them to live here?"

With a sneer, Jezebel continued. "Please. I-."

"Have the blood of merchants and traders in you. She has the blood of warriors." My friend defended me.

"Some warrior. Bawling like a baby. She's nothing like her ancestors. I say she's just a pathetic mistake."

Those words stung, but Jessica took action. "And you're just a stupid girl! Something tells me that you envy Clair and her presentation. Like she can go around wearing Hocamli garments, and I don't see the choice of whether or not she's a Hocamli being up to you." Jessica snapped.

Jezebel glared at that. "It's simple. Everyone here knows she's only half-Hocamli."

"And so do I, and I don't care if she's full or half either." Jessica retorted. "Honestly, I believe being half-blood is cool. My best friend was on the debate state of if she should accept herself as a true Hocamli or not. And she chose this path. I respect her decision no matter what, even if she chose the latter. So don't make her own decisions just because of your opinions or at least _abuse_ them either."

"What's going on here?" The teacher asked as he walked in.

Feigning shock, Jezebel pointed a finger at Jessica. "She just went and ruined Clair's project on purpose!"

"No, I didn't. You did." My friend defended herself.

"You're a liar!"

"No, I'm not. You are!"

"Enough. Both of you. Clair, what happened?" The teacher made me feel uncomfortable, but this was my only chance to make things right. And the way he spoke made several other students shift in their chairs.

My friend spoke up again. "Look at her feet. The evidence is right there!" Some of the paper went flying as Jezebel tried to clear her name.

Looking at the teacher, I told him, "Jessica is telling the truth. Jezebel ruined my project."  
"Jezebel. To the principal's office."

As she moved away, she glared at me with such rage. "I'll get you for this." She vowed as she left the room. Everyone then went back to their seats while I gathered up the remains of my ruined project.

* * *

As I was sitting in the lunchroom, I poked my food with one of my utensils. Even though the food was prepared for by my mother I didn't feel like eating. I had been looking forward to this presentation for weeks, and in a few seconds Jezebel had crushed it. Maybe I didn't deserve to consider myself a Hocamli. Maybe I was just an imperfect half-breed.

Something then took a seat next to me. "Mind if I join you?" Jessica asked while preparing to activate her plate of instant food. When I nodded, she activated it and got a bowl of hot soup and a plate of trydum meat. Smiling at her meal, she prepared to partake when she looked my way. "Are you okay?"

"No I'm not." Turning to her, I confessed, "I wanted so badly to give my presentation, and Jezebel ruined it. I spent weeks working on it, and she took it apart in a minute."

As she gave me a sympathetic look she said, "Maybe you can make another. The teacher did give you more time to work on it again."

"I don't know." I told her as I tried to fight back a tear. Why should I try again if there was a chance someone might ruin it. "Maybe she was right about-."  
"Don't talk like that. Clair, if you give in Jezebel wins. Do you want her to tell you who you are and who you should be?"  
"N-no." I admitted.

"Then let's meet up after school and we'll work on it together. I promise."

"Th-thank you."

* * *

Ever since that moment Jessica and I had been best friends. We ended up learning that our friends were good friends with each other. Her mom Eva had been classmates with my Dad before they went on separate career paths, with my Dad becoming a history teacher while she became an archaeologist. Thinking about her while pondering Aerith's words made me smile. "Thank you." I told my new friend.

"You're welcome."

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Yeller Sciences Space Station…

What kind of a dream was this? I was walking down a street with a bunch of old buildings all around me, and yet they weren't ancient ruins but the skyscrapers of Netokan brought low. It was a vision of horror for me because these great works of architecture, which had taken so much time and effort to design and build, had been broken and cracked, but looked overgrown with plants and dust as if testifying to the human race being brought low. Given how deep the gashes were and how high the buildings would've been this would've been the work of a kaiju. What was going on?

As I walked, a bright light filled my line of vision that forced me to look away. When I looked back up I saw something massive standing before me. I couldn't tell what because it seemed like a swirling mass of colors, but I felt okay around it despite feeling like a speck of dust before it. Was this what I thought it was?  
"Do not fear. You have found favor with me." The colors said. "Dark times are coming, and you will be needed to bring the dawn."

Whoa, what? "What do you mean? What's coming?" I asked the figure.

"You and your friends must be ready." While the voice didn't answer my question, I felt myself comforted and reassured despite the scenery being set for some apocalyptic scenario. "Your compassion and efforts to use the technology of your race for good have earned my attention, and I promise to send you aid to help guide you to your destiny. For now, accept this gift."

At that something flew out from the swirling mass and fell down towards me. It seemed to be a smaller sheet of the swirling mass like on an old tablet or something. As I reached up to it my hand seemed to reach it with ease and then I found my hand on top of… wait… my wrench wasn't that close last night… was it? My head pounded. Mornings really weren't my thing… I tried to take a breath but my shirt was too tight. Panicking, I clawed it off and took the breath I needed to steady myself. Where was my holo-screen again? I shifted around and found it where my elbow had been. I turned it on but the screen was too bright this early. Ugh…

I wrapped my covers around me and that's when I noticed my arms. My elbows and up were covered in an electric pattern of lighter skin. That wasn't normal. I peeked under the covers. It was the same for the rest of my body. Was I sick or something? I swung my legs over the edge of my bed and stood up. The floor was so far away. I felt dizzy. I hunched over to be a little closer to the floor and took a step. My foot caught on my other leg and I fell over with a loud crash.

"Yo! Shorty? You okay in there?" Eini's voice called from my door.

"Uhhh…." Was all I could reply.

"Need help or something?" Eini asked.

"I think so…" I finally admitted.

The doors opened and Eini slipped in. Her color scheme was slightly muted by the fact that I kept my lights dimmed until I could have my first Synthetic Energy of the day. It still hurt my eyes. She walked over to me, "Rough night?"

"I… I don't know." I told her, "Everything's weird. Look at my arms!"

I held them out to her and she raised an eyebrow, "You… need to moisturize?"

"What?"

"That's how you keep from getting stretch marks. You moisturize."

"Stretch marks?" I asked, dumbly.

"You know those things you get when you grow?" Eini's eyes widened from behind her ridiculous sunglasses, "Wait… Stand up."

I tucked my blanket around myself to hold it in place and then she helped me up. And up. And up. When I was finally standing straight, I looked down at her. Wait. Down?! She was supposed to be taller than me!

Eini stared up at me, "... I think I know what happened." With that, she helped me to the bathroom so I could look at myself. I tripped over my own legs nearly every step of the way. Finally, I stood in front of the mirror. Where I'd had to stand on a stool to get my entire face in view before, I was now looking dead center in the mirror.

"Well…" I said before I could filter it, "I'm not the shortest person on this station anymore…"

"Hey!" Eini retorted, "You were the only thing standing between _me_ and that role!"

"...Sorry…"

Eini left the bathroom and I heard my closet open, "... I don't think anything in here is going to fit you…"

Dutich. "I can't exactly get my assignments done wrapped in my blanket…" I replied.

Eini poked her head back in, "I'll see if I can find someone to lend you something," She grinned maniacally, "And then we can go ask Yeller if we can get off this place and go shopping!"

Without waiting for me to reply, she turned around and left.

* * *

 **Thanks again for all your help. It shouldn't be much longer until the next chapter is ready. And this is the start of the second arc for Journey of Discovery Final Mix. My goal for this arc is to give the others back on Harthyn some more development, so don't be surprised to see their sections get longer. Also I'm aiming to have Jason and Clair grow as they progress as well.**


	17. New Course

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Jason and Clair are mine.**

 **Eini, Johri, Braxton, Gracie, and Kenneth belong to Flautist4ever.**

 **Special thanks to TheGoodandTheBadXBoy, AquaStormfall, and Flautist4ever for helping write this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 17: New Course

JASON'S POV

Kicking a stone I watched it bounce down the cobblestone road, sighing as I reflected upon the turn of events. Alone again. It always seems to happen no matter what. At least this time I had been given a reason why. Because of how I acted.

Taking a seat on a crate, I thought back to when I first came here. It hadn't been the greatest highlight of my life, but I think now I understood why someone had turned me down when I made a request…

* * *

Five Months Ago…

I still didn't want to believe I wasn't on Harthyn anymore, but the evidence continued to pile up. Still that didn't mean I liked it because everything was so different. Everything had to be made by hand, from the food to the shelters. They have machines for heavy lifting, but they're so primitive this place may as well be considered primitive. Man, I wish someone would figure out how to get us back home so I could leave this behind- Gri's beak! I had to jump back to avoid getting crushed by some rubble.

"There you go. It should be easier to work now." I heard someone speak. Turning the corner, I saw some construction workers thanking a woman dressed in black clothes that matched her hair. I didn't understand the point of the train as she wasn't in a wedding dress, but I guess that's another reason why this world was weird. As she began walking away, I saw her brush some dust and pebbles off her. Did she clear that stuff away? How? Did… did she use her hands? No, her fists?! I could see the dust on them, but she wasn't even hurt. That shouldn't be possible but here it was. That was incredible, so I jogged over to her. "Hey!"

Turning to me, she blinked in confusion. "Can I help you, kid?"

"Yeah. That back there. Did you do that with your bare hands?"

"Well, yeah."

At first I was going to scoff, but then stopped as I noticed something in her answer. "You sound like that wasn't even a challenge."  
"Kid, it wasn't even a warm up."

Okay, that surprised me. Just how strong was she? All the science I had learned on Harthyn said such feats were impossible, and here it was right in front of me. The way she was talking made it sound like she could crush steel with her bare hands and she wouldn't break out in a sweat.

The woman then scrutinized me. "Wait a minute. Aren't you one of those kids who fell out of the sky?"

"... yes." I admitted, though I didn't want to discuss that incident. What she was doing was incredible, and now I had something I liked about this world. "Could you teach me to do that?"

"No." She spoke like I had told her a joke that she didn't understand.

That caught me off guard. "What? I'm not joking."

"Neither am I. I heard a lot about you, and none of it was good." Putting her hands on her hips, she continued, "You sound like a trouble maker and I don't want to create a potential problem by taking you on as a student."

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Hey, I don't plan on becoming a monster."

"No one ever does, and yet many do. Even if you don't become one you don't have the right heart to learn." Her frown actually scared me. "You're short tempered, ignore instructions, have no concept of teamwork, and are just plain rude. So my answer is no." With that she turned and walked away. As angry as I felt, I knew better that I would lose the fight against her. So I turned and walked in the opposite direction.

* * *

I see now that woman had the right idea not to train me. With a dejected sigh I feel grateful that she refused to train me. Traveling to these worlds has taught me that I was not worthy to be her disciple. With that kind of power I would've done more harm than good. So why did I still feel pain over that rejection?

"Hey there!" I looked up to see a woman with short black hair wearing shorts and a black shirt with flowers and a vest leap in front of me. "Finally found you."  
"Yuffie? What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Looking for you, duh. We have a solution to your problem back at HQ."

* * *

"No, no. This will never work." I heard Scrooge's voice outside of the Restoration Committee Headquarters.

"Now, Scrooge. We haven't given it a try yet." Merlin insisted as I ended up listening from outside. "Who would've guessed after his actions from a few years ago that Riku would've become one of the best protectors of the light?"

"What is your point?"  
"That everyone, even him, deserves a second chance."  
"Comparing Jason to Riku is like comparing a lump of coal to a diamond. He's caused nothing but trouble ever since I agreed to take them to the other worlds."  
"He will try to make amends for what he did, atone for his reckless behavior. I have seen his future." Merlin can see the future? That was a joke right? But then things out here didn't seem to follow Harthynian rules.

I heard a scoff from Scrooge. "How often do your prophecies come true, Merlin?"

"Always." The wizard defended his power.

"I find that hard to believe."  
It was then that Yuffie decided to barge in. "Hey everyone!" She greeted, drawing out the first word for dramatic effect. I wanted to walk away to avoid the embarrassment but she grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me inside. Scrooge frowned when he saw me, but I didn't blame him for it.

"Why did you bring him back? Leaving was the best move he made." The old duck told the woman who called herself a ninja. "He's been a reckless pain in my-."

"That's enough, confound it!" Merlin scolded me. "We've all heard your criticizing ever since you returned. Any more and you'll make me lose my hearing."

"There is no way your solution will work."

"What solution?" I asked.

"Well, I went to see an old acquaintance." Merlin said. "When I heard what had happened I realized you needed special help."

Ugh. This was getting nowhere. "What is this help?"

"We're going to give you a conscience."

"What?"

"Down here." A new voice said. Looking down, I saw the source of the voice was an insect in a black coat with a top hat? He was also holding an umbrella that he was partially using as a cane. Taking his hat off, he introduced himself. "Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket. And I'm going to be your conscience."  
"What?" I asked before turning to Merlin. "Are you serious?"

"Very serious. I can see you don't know right from wrong, so I asked Jiminy to help you lean it." The wizard answered.

"I sure will." The bug conscience confirmed while he hopped up onto some furniture so he could get on my shoulder.

"But how is this to help with my business?" Scrooge asked. "Surely you don't expect me to continue taking him to other worlds."

"Like who?" Cid asked.

"My nephew and his friends."  
"They could, but then you would miss a profit." Merlin smiled. "I saw you took some of Tamatoa's gold when you thought no one was looking."

Scrooge opened his mouth but then closed it again. With a sigh, he admitted, "I did. But I've faced many creatures that hoarded treasure, and claimed it for myself."  
"There are those who would claim that is stealing." Clair said as she walked in with Aerith. I noticed she looked as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, which made me feel glad. "How are you, Jason?"

"Good. I guess." I was still unsure what to think of the conscience given to me.

"No, no. Be more open. Don't sugarcoat things." Jiminy told me from my shoulder.

That got Clair's attention. "Who's that?"

"This is Jiminy. He's going to be my conscience."

"How does that work?"

"I guess it just does. OH, and Jiminy? This is my cousin, Clair."

Taking off his hat, the conscience greeted my cousin. "Salutations. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I like him." She smiled at Jiminy.

Turning to Scrooge, I said, "Look, I'm not good at this sort of thing so I'll cut to the chase. I'm sorry."

"No need to get dramatic." Scrooge said. "If you are determined to get better, I suppose I could give you a few pointers in how to be a proper adventurer."

"Didn't one of you say something before about making contact with your world?" Cid asked us from the other side of the room.

"Oh, yeah." Taking out her holo-screen, Clair called our only way back. "Hello? Johri? Eini? Anyone?"

After a few seconds we got a response. "Hello? Clair? Is that you? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Jason and I are back in Radiant Garden."

"Where?"

"The place where we were sent to after the incident."

"So why are you calling?"

"So we can set up a better means of communicating." Cid said, which I was sure surprised Johri. As Clair and I approached the computer, we placed our holo-screens on the keyboard thing. Some of the data numbers appeared on Cid's computer screen before an image of Johri appeared.

When I saw her I had to do a double take. "Gri's Beak! What are you wearing?" I'm not joking. It looked like someone swallowed a paint jar and vomited it all over her clothes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jiminy jump on my shoulder in shock of what she was wearing.

"They're just Eini's oversized clothes," Johri explained, "I finally grew. A lot... We're leaving the station tomorrow so I can get clothes of my own that fit."

I blinked at that. "Wait, you grew?" That fast?

At that moment Eini walked over, and she was definitely shorter than Johri, "I have been thrust into the role of the shortest person onboard," she lamented with her usual air of overdramatic sarcasm, "And thus I require higher heels."

Johri rolled her eyes at that, "Working on this stuff is going to be slower today since I can't comfortably hold my old tools anymore, too. So we need to figure out what I can get done today because we're taking the shuttle out tomorrow and may not be back until the day after."

"Um… okay…" I was still confused at how she could've grown so fast. "Anyway, we're calling because we're going to try and set up a better means of communication between you, Radiant Garden, and us so we can relay anything important."

"Yep." Cid began to fiddle away at his computer.

Nodding, Johri said, "Sounds like a plan. Is there anything I can do to make the signal more reliable on my end?"

"Try to match the frequency I'm sending out. And someone get the phones out." Cid instructed.

My cousin rose an eyebrow. "Phones?"

"A way we communicate with each other." Yuffie answered while she brought the phones over. I couldn't tell what Cid was doing with all of our devices, but it made Johri's image flicker and fade a bit.

After a bit the image came back. "Alright, I've matched your frequency." Johri's voice came through crystal clear. "Now what?"

"We set up numbers." Cid explained.

"You still use numbers?" Johri sounded incredulous.

"What do you use?"  
"DNA."

Cid blinked at that. "Come again?" He asked.

"Each holoscreen takes a DNA sample upon setup," Johri explained, "So its identification sequence is unique to its user... Well, except for identical twins. In which case an additional name identifier is added."

"And how do you suggest we do that here?"

"Leave that to me." Merlin said as he approached. Holding up his rod, he began waving it around while doing one of his incantations. While Johri looked over her shoulder, some sparks flew from his wand and a magical stream of energy began to flow around us and our devices. Our means of communication all buzzed as the magic integrated with the technology. Some of us even began to glow as well. Then, just like that, he stopped. "There. That should do it. We should be able to communicate wherever and whenever we need."

"Excellent!" Johri exclaimed, her voice finally coming through as if she were in the room, "I can start drafting plans for a transporter from here, but I can't start building until I have at least a new set of grips for my toolset."

"How much time would it take to gather all of what you need and then start building a transporter?" Cid asked.

"We're taking the shuttle out first thing tomorrow," Eini explained as she did a silly walk behind Johri, "Then we're gonna spend the whole day shopping for everything we want, stay the night in my family's personal hotel suite, and then take the shuttle back the next morning because apparently it takes that long to get the thing ready."

"Would you rather it spring a leak in space?" Johri countered, "A day's notice is already pushing it."

"So's that dress on you," Eini retorted.

Johri shot her a look at that.

"We have to be careful." I said. "I'm convinced we have a traitor on the station."

Nodding Clair added, "Someone I faced called my Bookworm."

Johri sighed, "So Brax was right... There's something rotten onboard this station..."

"Any idea who?" I asked.

"No, but don't worry. We'll be careful." Johri reassured us before looking around. "Any idea who it could've been?"

"Well, there was someone on the last world I was on." Clair admitted.

"Who?"

"I think it might've been Jezebel."

My eyes widened. "Jezebel? Like Jezebel Bruja?"

Eini shrugged, "Never did like her, but..." For once, Eini seemed to put on a serious face, "As full of herself as she is, why would she sabotage you guys? It just makes more work for her to sully her hideous manicure with."

Johri seemed to catch onto what Eini was saying, "You don't think the Downtrod have anything to do with this?"

Eini's sarcasm returned, "Do I look like I think anything?"

"...Do you really want me to answer that?"

"The Downtrod?" Aerith asked.

"Terrorists on our world." I explained.

Johri put her hand on her chin, "But why would they sabotage this station? The only thing of interest on here is Yeller. Everything else is standard engineering. It's actually kind of boring."

"I think that's what you need to find out." I told her.

"What are you going to do?"

"I..." I actually had no idea. How could I explain what I was going through right now? If that was really Jezebel, then I'd make her pay for the tantalizing things she put Clair through. Still, this didn't seem like something she could pull on her own. She had to be working with someone else.

Looking over her shoulder, Johri said, "We need to go. Call you later if we can." With that the transmission cut off.

"Guess that's it for now." I said. At least we had a stable connection now.

"Where do we go now?" Clair asked.

Stroking his beard, Merlin then said, "I would recommend Neverland for you two."  
"Neverland?" I asked.

Nodding, the wizard explained, "It's a lovely little world that I think you two will enjoy. A place where you can forget your troubles for a little while."

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Ugh… mornings. At least this time I only managed to trip over myself twice on the way to the bathroom. Once I had my first synthetic energy, it occurred to me that I should scan myself with my holoscreen. Apparently the sudden growth from last night was only the start. I had put on another five gutros in height. My stomach rumbled. I felt like I could eat everything onboard!

No time for that. Had to get to the shuttle. Tired of borrowing Eini's oversized clothes. I yawned as I strapped into my seat. I was tired in general…

We blasted off with Gracie at the helm. That should have scared me enough to stay awake, but the last thing I remembered was Braxton asking if we could see his family first and then I dozed off…

* * *

GRACIE'S POV

I brought the shuttle in nice and smooth… After all, I had to have one or two redeeming qualities. Otherwise nobody would keep sweet little Gracie around. Upon landing, I helped Braxton wake Johri up and get her out of the shuttle without falling on her face while Eini ordered us a float boat for the day.

The four of us gave our reports on the shuttle's condition before hopping into Eini's transport. I already had a plan in mind. While they were socializing with Braxton's family, I'd pay a visit to mine since they were in the neighborhood. I'd come back, say I got turned around in the unfamiliar part of the city, and all would be good.

LATER...

Okay, I miscalculated a little. I forgot to plan for Eini. Of course, could one really plan for Eini? I knew she was rich. I didn't know she was the heiress to Ashburnham construction. I really didn't know it would take her less than five minutes to order a complete renovation of the old neighborhood!

Still, all the fuss she was making gave me a great opportunity to slip out, so I did. It didn't take long for me to weave through the streets until I found myself outside the entrance to HQ. Moving carefully, I slid behind the dumpster and into the cracked wall of the "abandoned" building… and came face to face with the man who raised me.

He gave me a stern look, "What are you doing here, Audra?"  
"The crew I'm using to get info had to run some errands down here. They're distracted right now so I thought I'd come say hi to everyone."

"Your orders were to spy on Madsane and report back using Spinster. Have you forgotten that?"

"No, father," I replied, standing my ground, "But it would have raised suspicion if they went down here and I didn't. It's only for today and I'll be back tomorrow."

Her father sighed, "I'm very disappointed in you. Every day you're on that station is a day we get critical information about Madsane's plans. We cannot afford to have you missing days on this mission."

"This is the first day I've missed and it will most likely be the only one."

"You must be fully dedicated to your mission, Agent 1-3-7." His voice carried a note of urgency, "You know what he did before, and what he will continue to do if we don't find a way to stop him."  
"I am! But part of that is staying in character, and my character got dragged along today. If nothing else, it gave me the opportunity to report to you in person." I hesitated, but finally added, "And maybe see my friends for a little bit."

My father's face hardened, "I'm sorry, but your recklessness leaves me no choice. You will not see your friends today, and I forbid you to leave your mission like this ever again. Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir." I turned to leave, "One more report, sir. The Ashburnham heiress just ordered a full renovation for this area. You may want to relocate temporarily."

"Noted. Return to your mission."

Without another word, I left. I took a winding route back to Braxton's home, putting on a blank smile while my insides squirmed. Father knew who was leading the group I'd infiltrated, so he knew why I would want to see my friends instead of spending time with Braxton's family. Now… Now I'd have to sit with them and listen to them talk about my biggest mistake… and pretend I had no idea what they were talking about.

* * *

SIX MONTHS EARLIER…

"You ready?" I asked my accomplice.

"Am I ever not?" He replied, clapping a hand on my shoulder before pulling me in for a quick kiss. I liked to consider myself a rational person, but he left me breathless every time. It was pathetic and wonderful all at once.

I shivered in the cold winter air… or maybe it was because of him, "I'm gonna miss that when we split."

He smiled, his deep violet eyes sparkling in the light from the Starlight displays, "Me too, partner. So, you hacking or planting?"

"I think I'll hack this time," I said, pulling out Spinster, "Meet up back here?"

"Sounds great! Maybe afterwards I'll take you out for a Starlight feast," He started walking towards his destination, "Now go work your magic. I'll set up the distraction."

I did just that. It was a simple mission. We'd done it countless times before. One of us would hack a database and stream the data through a series of self-destructing proxies back to HQ, and the other would plant a bomb wherever we could get the most distraction for the fewest casualties. Most of the time, nobody even got hurt.

But this was not most of the time. I had just started the hack when I heard the bomb go off and screams ring out through the air, followed by sirens and orders for the City Center to remain calm while emergency crews attended to the wounded. I stopped the hack and made my escape.

I waited for Kenneth by our rendezvous point, furious at him for detonating the bomb in the Center. I paced around in the snow, fuming and shivering. Minutes passed. Then hours. I thought he was trying to throw off pursuit or something.

My fingers were half-frozen when Father contacted me. The detonation had been an accident. Kenneth was dead. I was to return to HQ to give my report. The mission had failed.

After I gave my report, Father showed me footage from a security drone we'd hacked. Kenneth had stopped for a moment in the Center to look around like just another sightseer. He set his backpack down and sat on a bench to wait for my first signal. A toddler- the little brother he'd joined us to support- waddled into frame. Up to him. The kid tripped and landed on the backpack. Kenneth grabbed him and tried to run, but they were both thrown forward by the blast. Kenneth landed squarely on top of his baby brother.

He didn't get up.

Father sped up the footage and I watched in horror as the emergency crews ignored my Kenneth and completely missed his brother.

* * *

It wasn't long after that that Father assigned me to the Station. He called it my chance to redeem myself. The mission was planned for months, but he only gave me 24 hours' notice that I would be sharing the Station with Kenneth's identical twin.

And now here I was, about to go smile at their family and act like I had nothing to do with their loss… why was lying so hard this time? I lied all the time. About everything. I had to. Lying was just part of who I was now. So why did I now hate it?

* * *

 **And there you go. Braxton and co. are back on Harthyn's surface, and now we know a little more of Gracie's backstory. I would've preferred to show it happening, but maybe I will later. Who knows? Maybe one of the mystery people in cloaks has power over memories.**

 **Next chapter is going to feature Mortem and how he starts off the second arc. I'm starting to think about having him investigate Harthyn on his own time, but we'll see how things play out.**

 **Now we know the next world is Neverland. I hope to do a good job with what I have planned.**


	18. Never say Neverland

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

 **Braxton, Eini, Gracie, Johri, and the extended family belong to Flautist4ever**

 **Jason, Clair, Yeller, and Santos are mine.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Never say Neverland

MORTEM'S POV

How did I get to this point? Rummaging around some creepy hooded person's computer just to find information about who I was working with? Guess it was after leaving that girl and the princess in the swamp. That battle we had, I had not expected her to call forth such power. Who would've thought the squirt had it in her? Whatever. Power was useless if someone wasn't willing to use it to do what needed to be done. Even if she turned into a goddess I would have no respect for her.

As Leroy typed away at the computer, he asked, "What are we looking for again?""Something. Anything." I growled. "That old coot is up to something and I want to know what it is. The kid froze when that figure called her Bookworm, and the first mission I got was to destroy some teleporter device. See if you can find any correlation because I can't read whatever language is on here.""It's not that hard once you get the basic syllables." The little red monster paused at a certain file. "Hmmm. Interesting."

"What? What does it say?"

"Well, from what I learned, I think it's Project Final." Clicking on it, a wide selection of files opened up showing various videos that seemed dated of seemingly unrelated events. The people talked about wrecked ships being found with giant claw marks in them, and others reported how entire islands had been devastated by large natural disasters.

Throughout it all I saw images of what looked like carvings and paintings of strange creatures on ruined temple walls, and drawings of them in old parchments. Why would they be shared in the same file as a bunch of old news footage? Then, as I was about to leave the file I saw a video that made me freeze. No, it couldn't be. That was impossible.

The video clip showed the shadow of a giant monster.

As I stood there, I saw more clips showcasing other giant monsters, attacking and destroying large metropolises like they were made of cardboard. Not sure how I knew of that substance, but it was terrifying to see the death count rise as I watched the clips of death and destruction. I did see armies mobilize to try to combat these threats but in the early clips they were completely obliterated.

"A traumatizing history to watch isn't it?" An all-too familiar voice asked from behind. Turning, I saw the person who claimed I owed my life to standing there. "I see you've grown curious about the world your opponents come from."

"What? That's from their world?" I couldn't believe it. "This Harthyn is home to those beasts?"

With a nod, the figure continued, "Kaiju, as the natives call them. My research has revealed that in ancient times many civilizations on Harthyn worshipped these monsters as gods, but for some reason they vanished. Then, seventy-five years ago, they reappeared and wrought havoc upon their advance civilization."

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "Thanks for the history lesson, but what does this have to do with me or those brats? What is Project Final?"

"Just a side-project that you need not concern yourself with, Mortem." While the figure talked, I noticed Leroy put something together and place it into the computer. As numbers appeared all over, I rose an eyebrow. Was he downloading the data? Couldn't let the mystery man see that, so I picked something up to look over. As he took it from me he gave his instructions. "Mortem. I think you have rested here long enough. Any longer and you risk the children becoming a threat to your goals. Do you want that?"With a scoff, I decided to test him. "And why are my goals important to you? Why are you so concerned about those two?"

"Do not concern yourself with that. And in the future, stay out of my equipment. If there's something I want to share with you, I will. Now, go. Make sure they do not get in your way again."

Huffing in response I turned and began to march away while Leroy leapt onto my back, handing me the drive with the data on it. Taking it from him I slipped it into my jacket. If my so-called partner wasn't going to give me answers I was going to find them on my own.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

As we flew inside the Gummi, I sat at the window thinking about everything, like was this in-between space called the Starocean or the Lanes Between? The books Merlin allowed me to borrow used both terms indiscriminately, so maybe both were correct? At least Scrooge agreed to give Jason a second chance, and he was learning right and wrong from Jiminy.

Another thing on my mind was this place we were traveling to, Neverland. I couldn't find much in my books, other than it was a place outside of time. You could spend weeks there, but find no time has passed in any other world, or you could spend a day only to lose years in other worlds. It was unpredictable and strange, and the thought of losing time kind of scared me. So why would Merlin recommend we come here?

Taking out my holo-screen, I contemplated the new communication system we established. Now that we could contact home more readily I wished one of our friends was there. Were they our friends now? They were trying to help us, but I didn't really know them that well. If they did find a way home, then I was going to change that. I'd dress like Eini if it meant seeing my Mom and Dad again.

The ship then rocked, sending me flying forward. "Heartless!" Scrooge called out as we looked out the window and saw several ships flying around us. Heading to the controls, Jason and I took our positions while we began firing at the enemies around us. Several of them flew on while Scrooge navigated through the floating rocks and hoops that surrounded us, but my cousin and I managed to hit a few of them. That gave me a sense of accomplishment but more swarmed around us. I didn't like the violence but it wasn't like I was attacking people.

As we fired, Scrooge spun the ship in what he called a barrel roll, causing us to lose our grips on the controls. With a gasp I grabbed the back of my seat to avoid crashing into the floor and walls while the maneuver succeeded in avoiding the blasts from the Heartless. As the ship righted itself, Jason and I got into our seats and resumed firing at the Heartless. "I got one!" I said as one blew up.

"That was me." Scrooge corrected me, causing Jason and I to look at each other as we continued to fire at our enemies. From the ship's window I saw what looked like a pair of pillars floating out in the middle of nowhere, connected by slides of all sorts. I rose an eyebrow at the strange sight, but the old duck flew towards it.

"Is there no other way?" I asked

"Not at the moment!" As he said this Scrooge spun around, sending us flying again. His spin ended up hitting two of the Heartless vessels, sending them crashing into some of their buddies. Upon contact they ended up exploding, taking out some other vessels with them.

"Nice trick!" Jason complimented the rich duck once he set the ship straight, allowing us to get back into our seats.

With a smile, Scrooge explained, "Well, they're not that smart. And that's not the only trick I have in this craft." Pressing a few buttons, the ship then shot straight forward, making me cry out in fear. We lost track of the Heartless ships behind us, but we encountered some more vessels in front of us, so Jason and I went crazy blasting them while our chaperone navigated through the floating rocks.

As we passed through a twin set of waterfalls, I noticed something up ahead. "Is that an island?" A bit redundant because it was, with several tall mountains and forests coating it everywhere. Were those two rainbows over some of the mountains? It looked friendly and inviting to look at, and I felt a desire to visit that world.

"There it is." Scrooge smiled as we destroyed more Heartless vessels. "Neverland." Once we had destroyed all the Heartless vessels in our sight he piloted the ship towards the world.

I had to be honest, it was more beautiful to be on the island than it was to look at it. The forests that surrounded us were majestic to look at, reminding me of the time when they covered Harthyn. In several areas they were growing back, but to see this place that seemed untouched by human hands.

Jason wasn't so impressed. "Why were we sent here? There's nothing here.""Did you not see the ship in the cove?" Jiminy asked from my cousin's shoulder. "There's plenty here. I've been to Neverland more than once, and I can assure you this place has lots to do."

Looking at him, I asked, "A wooden ship? We haven't used those on Harthyn for centuries."

"So how is being here supposed to help? What was Merlin thinking?" Jason asked.

"Curse me kilts, have a little patience." Scrooge scolded him. "Let's have a look around and see what is u-daaaaahhhh!" His last word turned into a cry as suddenly he found himself dangling by his foot in the air. "Watch out. It's a trap!"

Before Jason and I could react a net was thrown over us and we were pinned to the ground while out of the woods came a bunch of kids dressed in the skins of animals. "Hey, we got some!" One of the kids with blonde hair poking out of what looked like the hide of a jurdas said as he and his buddies looked over us.

"But they don't look like pirates." A chubby one in another type of skin, I couldn't tell what, said while picking up Scrooge's hat. "What is this?"

"That is mine!" Scrooge said as he used his cane to snatch it out of the kid's hands and hold it close to him. "Now who are you and why have you caught us?"

"Why do you look like Donald?" The kid asked back.

"Answer me question!"

"Answer mine first."

"Hey there." Another voice called out. Looking up we saw an older boy with red hair and elfin ears… Gri's beak! He was flying! How was he doing that? Was he a spirit of some sort, like I read about in some myths back on Harthyn? His green clothes seemed to suggest that. "What do we have here?"

"We set these traps to catch some pirates, Pan." The jurdas-skinned boy said. "But we caught these guys instead."

Flying down to us, the one the kids called Pan looked over us. "They don't look like pirates."

"We're not, Peter." Jiminy called out from Jason's shoulder. Wait. Pan? Peter? What was his name?

When he noticed the cricket, Peter's expression changed. "Whoa, Jiminy? Lost Boys, release them at once." On his orders the kids moved over to us and took the net off my cousin and I while the one who had been talking to Scrooge lowered the rope to the ground. Before he could help the old duck the boy was shooed away by the elder as he took the snare off his foot. "Jiminy, who are your new friends? And where's Sora, Donald, and Goofy?"

"You know Sora?" I asked.

"Yep. We're friends. And if you're his friends, then you're our friends too." The leader of the boys told us. "I'm Peter Pan. This is Slightly, Cubby, Nibs, the Twins, and Tootles. And this is Tinker Bell.""Who?" I asked as something bright and glowing flew down and around me. After a moment of looking… Whoa! It was a tiny woman with blonde hair and green clothes, with wings growing out of her back! With a gasp I fell backwards while I pointed at her. "What is she?!"

"You never heard of a pixie before?" Peter Pan asked as he flew over.

Wait a moment. I remember reading about them in Merlin's books. They were a type of lesser fairies, although I still didn't understand them, who helped watch over aspects of the world, like the animals and the seasons. They had reminded me of many of the tales my grandfather told me of spirits taking care of the world. Looking up, I apologized to Tinker Bell. "Sorry. I wasn't expecting to meet a real pixie."

With a frown she flew up to me and began speaking in what sounded like tinkling bells. I couldn't understand her words, but I could tell from her expressions that she was not happy with me. "Uh, Peter? What is she saying? Did I do something to offend her?"

"Oh, no. She's always like that." Peter said. "She wants you to leave Neverland."

"And who is she to tell us what to do?" Jason frowned at her. "What makes her think we'd listen to a flying glowing bug?" That comment really made Tinker Bell made because she went from glowing yellow to glowing red. Flying over to Jason she went and kicked him square across the face, surprising all of us. With a frown, he tried to swat her like a bug but she flew out of his way. When the Lost Boys and Peter started laughing, he gave them a glare. "Stop laughing!"

"What's the matter? Didn't you think that was funny?" Cubby asked.

Shaking my head, I explained. "Jason doesn't have a sense of humor."

"What? No sense of humor? That's no fun." Peter said.

"Fun?" Jason asked. "Fun? I was forbidden from having fun. You can act like a little kid, but I've had to be serious for years."

"And it's caused us nothing but trouble." Scrooge frowned at him.

Wait a minute. If Merlin thought it would be a good idea to come here after we nearly fell apart… "Peter, why is this place called Neverland?" I turned to the boy.

"Well, no one ever grows up here. Neverland is a place to have fun."

Now it makes sense. "I know you don't know us, but I think I know why we're here."

"Bless me bagpipes, of course!" Scrooge snapped his fingers. "That old wizard was right." Motioning us over, the old duck pushed Jason back with his cane while the Lost Boys, Peter, and I got into a circle while he began to whisper to us. "Merlin sent us here to help Jason learn to loosen up. He's wound up too tight and is going to snap at this rate.""Sounds like that old codfish Hook." Peter said.

"Please don't be upset with my cousin." Ignoring their shocked looks I continued, "As long as I can remember he's never been allowed to have fun. So, Peter, I know you don't know us, but could you help us help him?"

"You mean teach him to have fun?" Slightly asked.

"Yes, exactly lad." Scrooge confirmed. "Think of it as an elaborate game where you win by helping him learn to have fun."

A smile broke on the eldest boy's face. "That sounds like a great idea. And I've got a great idea."

"Hey!" We heard Jason cry out. Looking up, we saw Tinker Bell let go of some of his hair while he began to chase her around. It was kind of amusing to watch him chase someone so small.

"Tinker Bell, I need your help with something." Peter Pan said, causing the pixie to fly over to him. "Lost Boys, show our friends around while we get things ready. Slightly, you're the leader."

"Thank you, Pan." Turning to us, Slightly said, "Follow me."

"But where are we going?" Jason asked.

"You'll see."

"Relax, lad. You know getting there is half the fun." Scrooge smiled as he followed the line of Lost Boys while Peter Pan flew off to parts unknown.

* * *

Braxton's POV

"How's the system on your end?" Santos asked over the comms.

Tapping into hers Gracie answered, "All good. It's so calm Johri has gone back to sleep."

"Reentry should be enough of an alarm." He joked.

Eini snorted, "Especially with Gracie at the helm."

"You don't really mean that, do you?" Gracie asked, sounding hurt, "I know I'm bad at most things, but I thought my flying would be enough to make up for it..."

"Your flying is just fine," I told Gracie, "Eini's just joking around." I looked at Eini, "Even though she _should_ consider other people's feelings."

"Even if someone were a bad pilot, the AV-5000 is equipped with emergency response protocols that'll activate in the worst case scenarios." Professor Yeller spoke up. "Even if a meteor shower were to come your way it wouldn't get a scratch."

"And the shields should work to keep you from burning to a crisp as well." Santos added. "Initiating sequence. Be sure to bring back a souvenir."

I was sure Gracie shook her head as the launch was started. I heard machines around us whirring and hissing while the numbers sounded off. In front of us the bay doors opened to show the planet we called home below us. Once there were no numbers left the shuttle shot forward as if the station sneezed us out towards our home.

As I watched, I noticed how different Gracie seemed to be at the controls. Normally, she was flighty, distracted, and clumsy, but this was a completely different person. She was laser-focused, quick with all her adjustments, and as graceful as her name implied.

"Well, we get the day planetside," Eini spoke up, "Anyone have stuff they wanna do? Shopping's not gonna take us that long."

"Shouldn't we stick to doing what we said we were gonna do?" Gracie asked as she checked our trajectory, "You know, like the rules?"

"We're still gonna do what we said we were gonna do," Eini replied, "But we have a whole day. Unless you guys wanna sit in a boring old luxury hotel suite with nothing to do for hours." She leaned back, "Besides," She singsonged, "What the boss don't know, the boss won't mind."

"I'm not really for breaking the rules on a whim," I replied, "But maybe we can get permission to add a stop before we get started." I turned to Eini, "Did you have anything in mind?"

"Would I ask you guys if I did?" Eini scoffed, "The only thing this mind has on it is shopping and getting pruny in my personal steam pool." She examined her nails, "But you know how easily I get bored, so how would you recommend padding out a few hours planetside?"

I looked back at Johri. She was still asleep, so I turned to Gracie, "If we get permission, is there anything you'd like to do?""Not really," She answered sweetly, "To be honest I don't really like the city. It's so crowded and I always bump into people. You guys can choose."

"Well, if you're sure about that…" I trailed off and thought for a moment. I missed my family so much… Maybe we could get permission to see them while we were in the city? I turned to Eini, "Would you like to meet my family? We've always been close-knit, so I really miss them.""Already asking permission," Eini replied as she opened a channel to contact Yeller.

"Thank you," I said before looking back at my copilot's instruments. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Gracie tense up for just a moment. That was odd… But she did say she didn't like crowded places, and I'd already talked about my parents and remaining siblings. Maybe she just thought it would be too tight of a fit for all of us?

She kept the shuttle perfectly on course. Even reentry was oddly smooth. I didn't even hear the tires squeak during the landing. Where had she learned to fly?

Thanks to her smooth landing, it took us almost no time at all to wrap up our report. When we walked out to the transport area, Eini strolled up to a Float Boat and hopped in without even opening the door, "Well, what are you guys waiting for? Hop in!"

"You didn't have to order a Float Boat!" I exclaimed, "We could have taken the streamway and saved you the expense."

"Expense?!" Eini's jaw dropped, "We get one day in Netokan and you're telling me you _don't_ want to travel in style?"

"It's not that, but-""No buts!" Eini cut me off as she opened the door, "I already rented it so you might as well hop in!"

I could tell by her voice that there was no arguing with her on this. We hopped in and Gracie took the driver's seat. She looked at me, "You live on the lower, levels, right?"

I nodded, "That's where my family lives."

With that, Gracie pulled out of the pickup area and drove us all the way to the lower levels. As we pulled into my neighborhood, I noticed Eini staring in disbelief at everything. I tried not to be annoyed; she was the heiress to not one but two of the largest infrastructure businesses on the planet. Of course she hadn't seen the Lower Levels in person before! Still, it did feel kind of insulting. This place was my home, after all.

It wasn't pretty to look at, but the people were nice down here. I could see old man Eli helping some neighborhood kids get a game going. And not too far away I could see Joseph helping Martha up into her home. From her window, I noticed Nettie teaching her granddaughters some old crafts. Wafting through the air, I could smell buzzleberry pie cooking. Gri, how I'd missed this place…

Soon, we landed right outside my house, I stepped out first so my family would know who to expect. As the doors opened two young kids ran out. "Braxton's home! Braxton's home!"

"Elli! Fiona!" I ran up and hugged them, lifting them both off the ground, "how are my favorite baby sisters? Is Mom doing alright?"

Ellionoire nodded as I set them down, "We all missed you sooo much!"

"Mama keeps talking about how she can't wait for you to get home," Fiona told me, "Are you back for good? She'll be so happy!"

My face fell, "No, Fi. I'm not home for good. It's just for a couple hours today." I put on a comforting smile for her, "But hey, that's better than nothing, right?"

"Is that a Float Boat?" Ellionoire blurted, turning to me, "Are you famous now?"

I laughed, "No, Elli. I'm not famous yet. My friend Eini rented it for us today. Wasn't that nice?"

"Can we see?"

"For today only." Eini smiled at them.

I took my sisters by the hands and walked them over to the Float Boat, "Guys, these are my baby sisters, Ellionoire and Fiona, but you can call them Elli and Fi." I gestured to my friends, "Elli, Fi, these are Eini, Johri, and Gracie. They work with me on the Station.""In space?" Fiona breathed in awe.I nodded, "In space."

"Wow!"

"Have you seen any aliens?"

"Did you go to another planet?"

I laughed at that. "No, and no. We're trying to pave the way to allow deep-space exploration to do that."

"Yeah, we just get the boring part," Eini told the girls.

"Hey!" Johri retorted, "We're building cutting-edge technology! That's not boring!"

"Well, obviously it's not boring for you since you're the one building it!" Eini conceded, turning to the girls, "But for the rest of us, It's pretty boring."

My sisters then turned to Johri. "You built all that?"

"With my own two hands."

"And no mention of Professor Yeller's fundi-whoa!" Gracie then tripped out of the vehicle and fell flat on her face. "I'm okay."

I helped her up, "Gracie here is… Well, she's the best pilot we have."

"I promise I'm better at piloting transport than I am at walking!" She blurted, her face red from embarrassment.

Fiona pointed a finger at Gracie, "You better make sure Braxton gets back to Space safely! We don't wanna lose another one!"

"Fi, she's a great pilot! Don't be rude!" I scolded her. I turned to Gracie. She seemed to have gone pale for a moment, "My family is… We're very protective of each other. We uh… Two of my brothers… died… recently. Everyone's taking it pretty hard."

"That's awful!" Gracie exclaimed, "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Gri's beak." Johri added.

"Swear." My sisters told her in unison, managing to change the mood from somber to cheerful in an instant.

The doors then opened again. "Fi, Elli. Can't you two ask your questions inside?"

"Sorry, Mom."

"It's okay Mom." I said as we headed up the stairs. As we stepped through the doors I decided to give my friends a heads up. "Just a heads up, it will be a little crowded in here." At the doorway, I stopped to give my mom a hug, "It's good to see you again! Has everyone been behaving?"

Mom ushered me in, "We'll have time for questions later, Braxton. Let's just get all your friends in off the streets. You know it's not as safe as it used to be…""I know, Mom."

As we moved up to our apartment, Eini kept looking around the place like she was starting to have second thoughts. When she saw our apartment, her jaw dropped. "Uh, Braxton? Why do all these people look like you?"

"They're my siblings." I told her.

With a gasp, she asked, "WHY WOULD ANYONE HAVE SO MANY KIDS?!"

My mother chuckled, "We do have a big family, don't we?" She put her hands on her hips and beamed proudly, "I've birthed ten children and carried eleven. I'd say that's an accomplishment." Eini stared at her with wide eyes, and my mother sighed, "The truth is their father and I were never rich in riches, but we had a lot of love and wanted a big family to give it to. I'd say we achieved that, wouldn't you?"

Eini looked at my mother like she'd grown a second head, "What does that mean?! How do you guys even have enough space for all of you? Wouldn't it have been better to get a place on the Upper Levels?"

My mother looked at me with her eyebrow raised, "She's from the Upper Levels, isn't she?"

I nodded and turned to Eini, "We can't afford a place on the Upper Levels. We're lucky enough to get by here, but there's little left over, and what we do save usually goes away the next time one of us gets sick or when the house needs a repair. It's been that way since Mom and Dad were my age."

My mother looked at the group of us, "I was about to start making lunch, but since it looks like we'll be fourteen today, I should probably get some more food, first…"

"Oh, I can help get something." Johri offered.

"Why don't we all go with you?" I asked, "Many hands make light work, after all."

That earned a nod from Dad. "Excellent Braxton. We'll make it a family outing."My coworkers blinked at that. "An outing? We're just getting food."

"There _are_ fourteen of us today," my mom pointed out, "And Braxton's back _and_ he brought friends. We should celebrate a little."

I turned around and noticed Eini putting her holo-screen away. "What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Pulling some strings," Eini replied, "Everything's so cramped and run-down I called in my Mom's best architects to renovate the whole neighborhood."

We stared at her. "What kind of renovations?" I asked, cautiously.

"I was thinking total," Eini replied nonchalantly, "expand the walkways, make the houses bigger, all of the pakomi." She sighed, "It's like the only perk of being the Ashburnham-Krista heiress."

I gaped. Arguing for renovations to the Lower Levels had won me my scholarship to Institute for Neo Harthyn and even then the judges' critique was that it was too idealistic, and here Eini was, ordering the start of it because she could! Then it hit me: she was ordering it all at once. "Eini," I said, "Thank you for the wonderful thought, but it would be better to do only one or two projects at once. Renovating all of the pakomi would force a lot of people outta their homes, and most of us don't have anywhere else to go."

"Oh, relax," Eini replied, "It's just an assessment for now. We'll handle the details from the Station! I just wanna get the circuit switched on!"

I sighed in relief, "Thank you."

Eini crossed her arms and smirked, "Now, why don't you guys let me start my spending spree early? Lunch is on me!" She turned to my siblings, "And anything else you want!"

My mother seemed conflicted, "Are you sure? You're so young, wouldn't you rather save your money for when you're older?"

"It's a special occasion," Eini reassured her, "And besides, I've been cut off from shopping for _months_ and I won't see the mall again until I get to leave the Station for good. I feel like spending today!"

My mother put on a smile I knew all too well, "Well then, I suppose we should get ready to go. But before we do, may I have some privacy to talk to my son?"

Eini shrugged, "Your house. Just let me know when everyone's ready to go."

With that, everyone left the room. I could hear Eini promising Elli and Fi she'd get them shiny things before the door closed. I turned to my mother sheepishly.

My mother crossed her arms, "That girl has a problem, and I am shocked to see you enabling her like that."

"I don't know what else to do…" I trailed off, "She won't take 'no' for an answer, and we need her to…" I trailed off. Mom didn't know what had been going on on the Station. About Jason and Clair, and especially not about the spy. If she knew we suspected Downtrod involvement, she would never let me out of her sight. Not after what happened to Kenneth and Marcas.

* * *

 **Kind of a long chapter, I know, but Flautist4ever and I were working on segments with her characters since I want to make sure to develop her characters during the second arc despite them still being on Harthyn.**

 **As for Mortem's discovery, I thought it would be good to show how Harthyn has its problems as well.**

 **Thanks to AquaStormfall and TheGoodandTheBadXBoy for doing an RP to help get me started with Neverland.**

 **And yes, I am playing Kingdom Hearts III right now. Currently I'm in the 100 Acre Woods. I won't give any spoilers but I am glad I decided to not set my story during Kingdom Hearts III. I may try to show the results of the game in this universe but it probably won't happen in this story**


	19. Hook, line, and stinker

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Thanks to AquaStormfall, TheGoodandTheBadXBoy, and YamiChaos27 for helping me write this.**

* * *

Chapter 19: Hook, line, and stinker

Neverland…

JASON'S POV

We had been following these kids for some time now, and I felt like we were doing nothing but going in circles. Letting out an inward sigh, I wondered why we were letting them lead us around like this. It wasn't doing anything helpful, and felt like it was taking forever. Was it a mistake to come to this world?

Some whistling then entered my ears from up ahead, and I saw Peter Pan just resting on a tree branch. "Ah, there you are." Taking notice of us, he flew over to where we were. "It's all ready. You're going to love it."

"What is it?" I asked.

Giving a big grin, he said, "You'll see." With that he led us forward into the woods. What was with all this secrecy? I found it was getting on my nerves.

Folding my arms, I asked, "Can't we hurry it up?"

"Now, now. Patience, Jason." Jiminy said from my shoulder.

"But-."

"Ah, ah, ah." The conscience cut me off while wagging his finger

I was starting to regret this, but before I could make a retort we were lead into a clearing where in the middle sat an open chest. Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What is this?"

"This is the surprise. This chest used to be full of treasures, but I hid them all around Neverland. We're going to find them all."

"Yay!" The Lost Boys cheered. I, however, wasn't as enthusiastic. We had to waste our time wandering around the island finding Gri-knows-what and it was supposed to be fun?! What kind of world was this place?  
"Peter? What exactly are we supposed to be finding?" My cousin asked.

The flying boy then began to list off the items. "Three swords, two hammers, a couple of bows, and…"

I was about to make some complaint when I noticed something. Out of the ground appeared several blue creatures with narrow red eyes and antenna. I recognized them as some of the creatures that appeared in Wonderland when Mortem summoned that giant one. Some were medium sized with big hands loaded with sharp claws, and the others were fat with purple bottoms. Also, they had some sort of symbol on their bellies. I couldn't tell what, but it didn't match the crossed out heart insignia I had seen on some of the Heartless. "It's those monsters we fought before!"  
"Unversed!" Scrooge said as he held up his can. "Jason, Clair. Get ready for a brawl. The rest of you stand back."

While the Lost Boys ran back, Peter flew up to us, pulling out his dagger. "Oh, no. These things are not ruining our fun."

Rolling my eyes while I called my Keyblade out as did Clair, we charged at the monsters. I swung at one, but it zipped around my weapon so it only hit the ground. Clair tried to stab one, but it did the same things. One zipped over to Scrooge where the old duck managed to hit it back with his cane. "Back off, yahooligans!" He told them in that accent of his. Peter kept flying in, out, and around these creatures, doing a surprising amount of damage with that knife of his. How was he so good with such a puny weapon?

I tried to hit another of the Unversed with my Keyblade, but it zipped around my weapon before it took its shape again and attacked me from behind. Worbazz, these things were getting under my skin, and my back stung from where I was struck. Memories of my father and his "training" entered my mind and filled me with rage as I resumed my attack on the one that attacked me. It managed to dance around my attacks, though in an instant it was frozen and I was finally able to destroy it.

Scrooge kept whacking them with his cane, even though several of them zipped around him. Clair fired a Fire spell at some of them, knocking them back and giving the old duck and I a chance to destroy them. However, as soon as we destroyed the last of them, at least nine more of these creatures appeared, and two of them were different from what we faced already. Five of them were similar to the first ones, but they had stumpy legs and hands with long sharp claws. Two were these big obese brutes like the Large Bodies and Fat Bandits, but they were blue and purple. The last two were more of the sleek blue ones we fought before.

With a groan, I tightened my grip on my Keyblade. "Oh, come on." I growled as we went on the offensive again. One of the ones with the claws leapt at me and started slashing the air with its claws. I managed to block it with my Keyblade but I was forced to take a step back from them. These guys were surprisingly nimble. However, it got knocked back by someone I thought would leave me.

"Take that, ya ghastly beast!" Scrooge taunted the creature. I prepared to help Scrooge, but I got knocked back by one of the huge ones. As I grunted from the impact, I noticed the other one was ramming itself into my cousin. With a growl I tried to get over to her but two of the sharp claws began slashing me, turning my attention away from her to focus on my own problems.

As one of the pure blue creatures leapt up it got attacked from behind as Peter flew over and destroyed it with his knife. Doing a loop-de-loop he flew down and grabbed me by my shirt, pulling me out from the mess I was in. "Need a lift?" He asked as we flew into the air.

"Thanks." I truly meant that as I was set on the ground while he attacked the big one that had my cousin pinned. As the big one came at me, I managed to block it with my Keyblade while I checked on the rich duck. Scrooge managed to defeat the one that he had been facing and quickly dueling with another. Taking the time to push back against the big one, I got out of the way while I brought my weapon on one of the sharp claws.

"Blizzard!" Clair called out, freezing another sharp claw before a jab from Peter destroyed it. They then attacked the big one together, destroying it as well before Clair cast a Thunder spell that weakened the other of the sleek blue ones before she hacked it down. Turning to Scrooge, she fired another Blizzard spell, freezing the one Scrooge was facing before he knocked it over with his cane.

As it shattered, he gave a laugh of victory before the three of them rushed to help me, as I was trying to get behind the big one again. One of the sharp claws attacked me again, making me grunt out. "I really hate these things!" I frowned as I impaled it on my Keyblade, destroying it. The other sharp claw leapt up, but Peter parried its blows with his knife while Clair fired another Fire… wait. It seemed stronger than before.

"Fira!" My cousin called out as it hit the monster, doing significantly more damage to where it was destroyed. As we all rushed the last of the big monsters, our combined attacks were enough to take it down. Peter then let out a crow as if signaling a victory. I took a breath as Clair cast her healing spell on us, erasing the pain of our struggle.

From where he had hidden, Jiminy poked his head out. "I can't believe this. Not only Floods, but Scrappers and Bruisers too."

"Floods? Scrappers? Bruisers?" Clair rose an eyebrow. "Jiminy, do you know what those things are?"

As the Lost Boys came out of hiding, their leader began to look around. ""I think they were called... Universes... or Universal..."

"Unversed." Jiminy corrected him.

Looking at him, I asked, "You know about them?"

"I've read about them. The King said they were negative emotions given physical form in the shape of monsters."

"Ah, I remember now." Scrooge said. "I've encountered them before, almost thirteen years ago when I was expanding my business to Radiant Garden. Then, they vanished only to reappear last year according to my nephew and his friends while they were on their adventures. But…"  
"But what?" I asked.

"The person who controlled them was supposed to have been defeated a year ago at the end of their last adventure. So how could they be back?"

"Mortem. He's the one controlling them. Creating them." I explained, "Think back to the last time we faced him. He created that giant monster, and it had the same symbol the fat ones had. We also faced several of the smaller ones. This can't be a coincidence." With a sigh, I added, "We need to be careful. If he wanted to, he could create an army in a second." If those things were here, and if I was right, then that must mean he's here too.

"Is this going to spoil our fun?" Slightly asked.

"What? Of course not." Peter shook his head.

"It just means we need to be more careful and aware." Scrooge reassured them. "Nothing like a little excitement to spice up a good game."

I wasn't sure what to think of that, but then Peter said, "Hear that men? We're still going to have our game." As they cheered, he turned to me. "You lead the way."  
"What? But I don't know where we're supposed to find this stuff."

"That's the game. It'll be fun."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

Oi vey. Not only am I on another island, but this makes less sense than the last one did. Not only were there kids dressed as wild animals but they were led by this boy who looked more like an elf. And when I saw those losers were with those kids… Did they really think being with this Peter Pan was a good idea?

Then again, the idea of pirates being heroes was strange to me.

"See? What did I tell you?" The one calling himself Captain Hook was tell me. "That codfish Peter Pan is holding a bunch of children captive for his fun and games." He still seemed flashing with that crimson coat with gold lining and rose pants. He also had this wide red hat with a lavender feather sticking out from it. I also noticed when he spoke he seemed to enjoy twirling his moustache with the hook that replaced his left hand.

"You can stop with the sales pitch." I told him. "I already showed you I was going to fight this Peter Pan."

"B-but those monsters you summoned." The first mate, a short portly man with white hair and a stomach that popped out from underneath his white and blue striped shirt added. "Why I remember being chased by those demons like it was yesterday." Even though he was looking at me through half-moon glasses, I couldn't take him seriously with that red cap with the pom-pom ornament and the teal shorts. His sandals I had no problem with.

Grinning at him, Leroy asked, "You afraid they're going to eat you?"

"Quiet, Leroy." I growled before looking at them. "Don't worry. As long as you are not my enemies, I guarantee they won't attack you."

"But using such dangerous creatures isn't good form."

"Good form, Mr. Smee?" Hook asked. "Blast good form! Did Pan show good form when he did this to me?"

As he held up his hook, I rose an eyebrow. "Peter Pan did that to you?"

"Aye, he did. And you know what that bilge rat did next? He threw it to the crocodile."

"So?"

"So, that cursed beast liked the taste of me so well he followed me ever since licking his chops for the rest of me."

I hated this Peter Pan more and more. But why did I care if he was herding and abusing children? That was the part I couldn't wrap my head around. As soon as I had heard that they just swarmed out of me. "And yet you're still alive."

"Aye, because of me skill and determination."

"And because of that alarm clock it swallowed. It warns everyone when it's about with its tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-." Smee's explanation was cut off as Hook hit him on the head with his hook. Clearly this was a sensitive topic.

Rolling my eyes at them, I said, "Look. I get it. Peter Pan is a bad guy. Leroy and I were going to take care of him before, but now that he's joined up with some pests it'll be more enjoyable."

"It'll take more than brute strength to best that scurvy brat." The captain warned me. "Many times I have tried to best him, but each time he slipped away. If you truly want him, you will need to catch him in a trap. And I know the perfect bait."

I found myself leaning on the ship's mast with a sigh. I honestly didn't know why I was even bothering teaming up with these weaklings. These two were barely worth the dirt on my boots. But still, these two seemed to know this strange island pretty well. Whatever the case, those meddlers are gonna get what's coming to them.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

We had been moving along for a while now, and we've managed to find a couple of the items that Peter was having us find on this Scavenger Hunt. I was finding this enjoyable, but it didn't seem to be helping Jason much. He stayed quiet and kept this frown on his face as we picked up the next club. How was this supposed to help us get better?

With a sigh I leaned against a tree to rest and think. Far as I can remember Jason never had fun because Uncle Kendall was trying to prep him to be ready to fight. Why did Uncle Kendall have to be so mean? Why did he have to push Jason to be so hard and cold? So many people at school were hurt by him, and in return they hurt Jason back. It had just been a never ending cycle, and now it felt like my cousin was paying the price.

Guess I'd better… wait a minute. Where was everyone? Did they leave without me? Looking around, I asked, "Guys?" When I didn't get an answer I knew I was on my own. But which way did they go? Why didn't I pay attention to my grandpa when he tried to teach me about tracking in the wild? Nothing I could do about it now.

Any direction was good now. Turning to the place I last saw them facing, I began to walk in that direction. It seemed well traveled so I had to be on the right path. However I still failed to see any sign of my friends even when I began jogging through the trees. Eventually the trees broke and I found myself at some sort of lagoon with lots of rocks jutting up from the water. What caught my attention were the strangest creatures I had ever seen.

They had the upper torso of people, or women I should say, but their lower halves weren't. They were like fish tails, except the fins were flat like an aquatic mammal. They seemed to be doing their hair and admiring their reflection, but what in the world were they? How could something be half-mammal, half-fish? It made no sense.

Since my new friends weren't here, I was just about to walk away when something else caught my attention. It was like blue splotches moving on the ground, and now they made me think of how the Shadow Heartless could move. As they zipped up into their physical forms, I began to run towards them, but they headed for some bushes instead.

"Huh?" I rose my eyebrow at their action, but while I did that someone came out of the bushes trying to fend them off. It was a girl close to Peter's age, but she was dressed in a dress that reminded me of what my ancestors wore. Scrambling to her feet while her braided hair flew around her face, she pulled back on a bow she carried and fired it at one of the Floods, destroying it.

Before she could celebrate, three more Floods appeared and brought their numbers up to eight. Then they were joined by four of the Scrappers and two Bruisers. There was no way she could take them on all by herself, so I called my Keyblade, which still had the stone I got in Motunui on, and rushed over to help her. I managed to slice through two of the Floods in order to get to her side. "Who are you?" She asked when I got there.

"Someone who can fight these things." I answered as I readied my weapon. Looking back at the Unversed I blocked a blow from a Scrapper while my new friend shot another Flood. As I forced the Scrapper back, I got rammed by one of the Bruisers. I really found myself hating those things.

The person I was helping managed to destroy the Flood she shot before using an arrow to wound a Scrapper. Taking a tomahawk, she threw it at a Flood that was leaping up, destroying it. Holding my Keyblade up, I decided to show some of my skills. "Thunder!" I cast the spell, electrocuting several Unversed and managing to destroy three Floods. I then jabbed and sliced the last one, ending the Floods in this fight.

We still had some tougher Unversed to deal with. Retrieving her tomahawk the person who was helping me fight threw it at the Scrapper she shot earlier. Pointing my Keyblade at it, I felt a new spell come to me. "Stop!" To my surprise the Scrapper stopped moving like it had been frozen in time. That allowed the tomahawk to hit it, destroying it while the ice shattered.

Looking at me, she said, "Thanks," before engaging another Scrapper. I then gasped out in pain while a Bruiser tackled me from behind before the last Scrapper sliced me with its claws. With a small growl, I glared at them while I readied my Keyblade. Running towards the Bruiser, I leapt up and delivered a blow to the back of its head. While it was dazed, I shot a Fire spell before slicing it some more with my Keyblade.

As it faded back into darkness I got this impression that I needed to dodge. Leaping out of the way, I turned to see the last Scrapper running at me while the other was destroyed by the warrior girl. She then turned to face the Bruiser while I concentrated my efforts on the Scrapper. Casting another Blizzard spell, I then fired a Thunder spell that zapped both the Scrapper and the Bruiser before I sliced at it several more times, finally destroying it.

As the Bruiser fell over, I looked at the person who had fought by my side. "You're good. I don't meet a lot of people willing to fight the Unversed."  
"It's not the first time I've faced them." The girl said. "They invaded my tribe's home before, so when I saw them again I decided to not let them make the same trouble again."

I would've said more, but then I realized the Bruiser had not been destroyed yet, and was coming right at us! "Look out!" I warned as I grabbed the person and leapt to the side. However, I failed to realize our fighting took us to the edge of the lagoon. Right before we fell I did fire another Fire spell that destroyed the Unversed this time, but it was too little too late.

As we began to fall towards the water, I jammed my Keyblade into the side of the cliff before grabbing my new friend's wrist. As we held on, I then noticed there was a branch hanging not too far from where we were. "I'm going to swing you over to that branch."

"Hurry." She said as the fish people began to take notice of us. With some effort, I managed to get a motion going, increasing how far I was swinging until finally my new friend was able to catch the branch and pull herself up. I was about to do the same when something leapt up and grabbed my ankle.

"Come on. Join us for a swim." One of the fish people said.

I had a bad feeling they didn't mean that literally. "No thanks." I didn't want to do this but I had no choice. I kicked the person who held me by the ankle until she let go and fell back into the water. The rest of them then began to splash me and throw shells at me. Okay. Now I was officially starting to hate these… whatever they were.

My Keyblade jerked a little, telling me if I didn't hurry I was going to fall into the water. Looking around, I ended up focusing on the rocks that jutted out of the lagoon when something strange happened. It seemed like my vision zoomed in on one of the rocks, and everything else seemed to move in slow motion like the three fish people who were leaping out of the water. Now or never!

Pushing off from the face of the cliff I ended up flying over to the rock I had focused on, missing the fish people and crashing into it. "Whoa!" I cried out as I held on for dear life. What was that and how did I do it? No time to think about it. I had to do it again. Looking around again I found the power activate, but instead of just focusing on one rock I saw several that would allow me to get back to the edge. As I pushed off again, I zipped from one rock to another until I found myself back on solid land.

As I panted from the effort, I felt something hit me again. Seeing a seashell on the grass next to me, I picked it up to look back to see the fish people making faces at me and pouting. I decided I did not like fish people at that moment. Turning back to the girl I asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for keeping the mermaids from getting me." She said.

"Mermaids? Is that what they're called?" Looking back, I said, "I don't think I like mermaids."

"Not everybody does. Only Peter Pan can safely talk to them. Who are you, and what are you doing on Neverland?"

"I'm Clair Fay. I'm here trying to help my cousin learn to have fun."  
"Then you came to the right place. No one does fun like Peter Pan." Smiling at me, she added, "You're a good warrior, and I would be honored to call you a friend."

"Thanks… I'm sorry, but I didn't catch your name." I apologized to her while we began walking away from the lagoon of the mermaids.

Realizing she didn't introduce herself, she corrected that. "My name is Tiger Lily."

"What were you doing out here?"

"I was trying to hide this." Holding up the bow, she explained, "Peter Pan came to me asking to hide some stuff for a game of his. I hid some of the items he gave me, and was about to return to my camp when those monsters attacked."

Before we could react, some rough looking men came out of the jungle and grabbed Tiger Lily. I was just about to help my new friend when something went over the top of my head, blocking my vision and pinning my arms to my side. "All right, men. Take them back to the Jolly Roger."

* * *

JASON'S POV

I was getting sick of this. We had gotten most of the items but now we had to climb a mountain to get another? I was having trouble breathing climbing this thing. I was starting to think Peter Pan had a sick sense of humor, because he was just flying around while the rest of us were using our hands and feet.

Despite his old age Scrooge had managed to get ahead of the rest of us. "Come on, lads. Nothing like a good climb to get the heart pumping."

"And the arms aching." I growled as we continued to climb. "Why do we need to climb a mountain just to find something?"

"We lookeded everywhere else." Cubbt said. "They've got to be on this mountain."

"Besides, isn't it fun to be doing this?" Peter asked as he hovered over us.

"Come on, Jason. Don't be cross for trying something new." Jiminy told me from my shoulder. With how he's been doing I had half a mind to crush that bug. However, I didn't want to get outdone by an old duck and a bunch of kids, so I swallowed my pride and kept climbing up until finally I pulled myself over a ledge.

Looking over, I spotted the wooden sword that was supposed to be up here. "Finally." As I reached over for it something inside me thought back to the Lost Boys. They were all kids, and had to climb up this mountain. That just didn't seem fair when their leader could fly around, and I was up here catching my breath. Why weren't they up here yet?

As I went back to the ledge to look, my heart skipped a beat as I didn't see them anywhere in sight. What happened to them? Did they fall off the edge? What was that being sprinkled on me? "Scrooge? Slightly? Cubby? Tibbs? Toodles?"

"Boo!" someone cried out behind me, scaring me to the point where I fell over the edge! As I fell, I did only what anyone else would do in this situation: I screamed my head off. Reaching out for anything to slow my fall, I ended up tearing a leaf off a palm tree with both hands. That's when for some reason it caught the wind and slowed my fall while I got carried away from the mountain.

I don't know why, but I found myself enjoying this. This was a great view and this controlled flight was actually not bad at all. My cries turned to laughs as I kept going down. The longer I laughed, the more I felt less and less resistance from the wind. Then, it felt like I was no longer going anywhere and was just hovering. I felt the wind but I wasn't going anywhere. "Jiminy? Why am I not moving?"

"I think because the pixie dust kicked in." The cricket said. Looking down, I could see golden sparkles around me. Whoa. How was this working? The frond ended up blowing away, but I don't think I needed it anymore. "Yes, this is pixie dust all right."

"Pixie dust? But how'd I get it on me?"

"I had Tink sprinkle you with it." Peter Pan said as he and the Lost Boys flew over to me. "Looks like that scare was what you needed to finally have fun."

"That was you?!" AS soon as my anger flared up, I felt myself drop. "Whoa!"  
"Think happy thoughts, Jason! Think of when you were soaring just now!" My conscience cried out while hanging on to my shirt with his umbrella. Recalling that memory, I was able to get myself to stop before I collided with the treetops. I felt my heart beating against my ribs as I stabilized myself.

Turning to Jiminy, I asked, "So how come I need happy thoughts to keep in flight?"  
"Because they lift you up." Peter Pan smiled, answering for my conscience. "Faith, trust, and pixie dust. That's all you need to fly."  
"Wait until I show Clair." I said. "Shouldn't she be back by now?"

"Yeah. Tink said she went to help with…" Peter stopped as she said something else. "What? What do you mean Hook got them?"

"What?!" That caught my attention. "Who's got my cousin?"

"Oh, just an old codfish called Hook." Peter answered. "He's the captain of a crew of pirates that keep looking for treasure here."

"Pirates?!"

"Oh, yes. I've been meaning to get a good scuffle with some buccaneers in." Scrooge smiled as he flew up. "Which way to the ship?"

"That way." No sooner than Peter pointed which way than I began flying as fast as I could in that direction. If my cousin was in danger I was going to help her. However, I then felt something grab the back of my shirt. "Hold on. Not so fast."

"What are you doing? Let me go!" I growled at the boy.

"She'll be fine. We'll make a new game from this."  
"This is no time for games!"

"Come on. If you don't try to have fun, you're going to grow up to be a grumpy old man like Hook. Is that what you want?"

I don't know why, but I found myself thinking of my father, and what he did to me for years. I was still angry with him, but I knew I did not want to be anything like him. "... No."  
"Then listen up. Here's what we'll do."

* * *

 **And Clair has learned to use shotlock. Figured I may as well bring it in.**

 **I was going to have the Crocodile show up to scare Hook, but it didn't fit this chapter so I didn't.**

 **I'm sorry for the hiatus. The WiFi went out at work and for weeks I could only do this when I got off work. Hopefully now that it's back up we'll get to updating this story more.**

 **Also, YamiChaos27 has started a new story called Keyblade Princess: Cosmos Crusaders, which will have a connection to this universe. Feel free to read and leave a review here:**

 **s/13256446/1/Keyblade-Princess-Cosmos-s-Crusaders**


	20. Power play

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27**

 **Eini, Johri, Gracie, Braxton, and his family belong to Flautist4ever**

 **Special thanks to AquaStormfall, TheGoodandTheBadXBoy, and YamiChaos27 for helping RP the chapter with me. And special thanks to Flautist4ever for writing the next segment on Harthyn.**

* * *

Chapter 20: Power play

Neverland...

CLAIR'S POV

After being carried around in that disgusting bag, and feeling myself pressed against something wooden, the vomit threat was removed and I could see again. I didn't like how I was surrounded by a bunch of disgusting looking men with cutlasses pointed at me. One of them wasted no time tying me and Tiger Lily to the mast of some sort of primitive ship, the kind that relied on the wind to power it. I moved to summon my Keyblade, but one of them smacked me across the face. "Ow! Why you!" I was then shoved back while a short fat one began tying me and Tiger Lily to the mast.

"I beg your pardon." The man said. "But Cap'n Hook don't want no trouble from you two."

"Then he should've left us alone." I said. "Who is this Hook?"

"A vile pirate." Tiger Lily told me. "And Peter's sworn enemy. He's vowed to kill him."

"But why?" I asked her.

"He took Hook's treasure and hid it on the island somewhere." She answered. "Also, he chopped off Hook's hand and fed it to the crocodile."

"He did what?!" Eyes widening, I felt my stomach lurch and threaten to expel my lunch. That was just so disgusting and wrong. Shaking my head, I did what I could to suppress my sick feelings. I had to focus and find a way out of this mess.

"Welcome aboard me ship, Miss Tiger Lily." A pirate dressed in red strode up to us. There was also this hat with a feather sticking out of it, and I noticed his left hand had been replaced with a hook. Guess they didn't have prosthetics here.

Frowning, my friend inquired, "What do you want now, Hook?"

"You two are 'guests' to a party I plan on giving Peter Pan. A farewell party." The pirate explained. "This time he shall not escape me. This will be his last hurrah."

"And what makes you think this time will be any different?"

"Because this time I have a secret weapon."

Frowning, my new friend asked, "What weapon?"

Stepping aside, Hook showed us his 'secret weapon', and it made my eyes widen. "Mortem?" I asked.

"You know him?" Tiger Lily asked.

Nodding, I explained, "We've crossed blades before."

"So he's an enemy."

"Yeah."

He gave a pause when he noticed me. "You again?" Crossing his arms, Mortem added, "You got captured by these losers? For a Keybearer, that's just pathetic."  
"They took us by surprise." I defended myself.

"Whatever," he scoffed at me, "Consider yourself lucky as keeping you alive for now will likely draw your idiot friend here as well… so I can finish you both!"

My eyes widened a bit. "What is your problem?" I asked him. "You treat being a Keyblade wielder as a great honor, yet you go around hurting people with yours. That doesn't sound like a very honorable thing, hypocrite. If anything, it's dishonorable."

Mortem seemed to pause for a moment like he was lost in thought, but then he just shook his head. "A Keyblade is a symbol of strength. Nothing more. You would never understand its true meaning." Before I could speak up he added, "That's why yours is a joke. A true Keyblade would never choose a coward."

* * *

JASON'S POV

Clenching my fists, I watched the entire exchange from my hiding place. Man, that guy really got under my skin. He was welcome to trash talk me, but talking down to my cousin like that? Gri's beak, I was so tempted to rush in there and prove him wrong. That was when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Don't go rushing in there. You might get them hurt." Jiminy warned from my shoulder. As much as I didn't want to admit it he was right. I couldn't save them right now. There were too many pirates, and no openings to charge in. All I could do now was wait.

Peter Pan then flew over to us. "You ready?"

Nodding, I watched while Mortem turned his back to my cousin his little red pet began to taunt her. "Pathetic. You never saw them coming."

Clair frowned at that before it was replaced by a slight smirk. "You know what, little one? Last time we met I thought you said you are a weapon. THat nothing could stop you." My cousin's mockery made the little monster growl. "And now it seems like you've started to rely on others instead of yourself."

Leroy's ear twitched at that. "Don't push your luck, you big stinkyhead!"

"Or what? You'll give me fleas?" She taunted him.

That made the red furball snarl. "Why, you little-."

Mortem then glanced at the monster. "Leroy! Enough!" He shouted before turning his back once again. Leroy growled, but he stayed silent. Obedient little beast.

While he wasn't looking, Peter flew down and snatched Hook's hat. "Huh- what?" Hook asked when he noticed his hat was gone, and his only answer was the sound of laughter. The pirates then looked up to see Peter sitting on top of a sail, waving Hook's hat before putting it on his own head. "Blast you, Peter Pan!" Shouted the captain. "Unhand me hat!"

"I might, if you let the girls go." Peter said while resting his chin on his hand.

"Come down here and get them!" Hook ordered, but not everyone waited for the captain to give orders. I saw Mortem summon his Keyblade, as well as some bird-like creatures similar to the Unversed coming out of him. Yep, he's definitely the source of the Unversed. He then conjured a dark fireball and threw it at Peter.

He then flew out of the way, dodging the attack, although Hook's hat wasn't so fortunate. "Missed me." The kid teased while the Lost Boys came out of their hiding spots and began throwing stuff at the pirates. As they yelled in surprise at this, I saw one get nailed in the face by some sort of brown ball thrown by Cubby.

However, Mortem ended up getting my attention as he climbed, or rather jumped, a rope ladder all the way to the top of the sail. "Come here and fight me, you coward!"

"Coward, me?" Peter asked.

"Of course you!" The dark boy shouted. "Flying away from a fight? Coercing your infantile slaves to do your dirty work? What's the matter, afraid to fight yourself?" He then sicked the avian Unversed at him.

The boy who wouldn't grow up was able to dispatch them easily enough with his knife, but now he looked serious. "Nobody calls Pan a coward and lives. I'll fight you man to man. With one hand behind my back." With that, he landed on the sail and the two of them began to fight.

And they said I started fights? Peter ducked and weaved, avoiding Mortem's slashes until he clashed blades with his dagger against Mortem's Keyblade. Something inside me felt like I needed to get up there, and if I knew anything about Mortem it was he wasn't going to stop unless someone else took his attention away. Right now I knew he wanted me more than my cousin, so if I didn't get up there he would kill Peter. Turning to Jiminy and Scrooge, I said, "You two need to help the Lost Boys. Free Clair and the other, and then hold off the pirates."

"What about you?" Scrooge asked.

"I have to help fight Mortem. Pan doesn't seem to know what he's up against."

With a nod of understanding Scrooge and Jiminy raced to help while I made my way up to the fight. As I ascended the rope ladder I heard Peter ask, "So why exactly are you helping that codfish?"

"Honestly, I'm just here for those Keyblade meddlers you've befriended." Mortem answered. "Though to be honest, I'm quite disgusted with you after what Hook told me you've done."

"And what did he tell you I've done?" He asked. I had to be honest, he was holding up really well despite using a dagger against a Keyblade.

"That you captured those kids and forced them to follow you! Also, that you cut off his hand and fed it to a crocodile… just for fun! You have a twisted sense of humor." Transforming his Keyblade into its scythe mode, he added, "If these aren't what makes you a dirty coward, I don't know what does."

Peter blinked at that. "He said all that?" He floated a bit in the air, readying himself as he prepared to face the new weapon.

"That's right! Now say your prayers!" As Mortem began to charge electricity through the scythe, I finally made it up to the sail. However, the dark warrior began swinging his scythe at Peter Pan, forcing the hero of Neverland to go on the defensive. If I didn't do something the Lost Boys might lose their leader.

Climbing up, I summoned my own Keyblade. "Mortem! You wanted my cousin and I? Here I am!"

My words caused him to glance back. "So you decided to show yourself." He said before pointing the scythe at me, the electricity crackling as it held the charge.

Holding my weapon up, I nodded. "Yeah. I did. And I've got news for you: Your information is wrong. Those kids follow Peter Pan of their own choosing. He doesn't force them to do anything."

"Shut up!"

"Hook has been telling you lies."

"I told you to shut up!" He then fired an electric beam at me. I couldn't dodge it, so I ended up taking the attack. With a cry of pain, I fell forward and almost lost my balance. I managed to hold on to the sail twitching from the attack while Mortem approached me. "Give me one good reason why I should believe you! Do you have any idea what it's like being abused as a child?" During this Peter tried to sneak up on Mortem, but the dark warrior blasted him back before he could get close enough.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself back to my feet. "... Yes. That's something I know too well." Memories of how my father treated me over the years came back, purging my mind of any happy thoughts. There'd be no flying if this went south.

"Oh, you do huh?" He asked. "Tell me. Was it one person or an entire town?"

"What does that have to do with this?"

"Everything."

"Is this supposed to be a contest over who had it worse?"

Mortem was silent for a moment. Then he chuckled before saying, "Just as I thought." He then snarled, "You don't know pain like I do! You don't know the pain of being left on the streets at the mercy of nearly everyone in your home town. Beaten, starved, neglected, forced to steal just to survive, treated like something you never wanted to be all because of something you didn't even have control over! And that it got so far that they eventually deliberately tried to kill you...as a ten year old! You! Know! Nothing!"

"Maybe I don't." I agreed. "But I do know what it's like to live feeling like you have no hope for the future, that no matter what things won't get any better. To feel like you're just a lump of clay everyone else can mold into whatever they want you to be. I do know how anger builds up until all you can do is take it out on others who were innocent all in an attempt to fill the hole in your heart. To be seen as nothing but a delinquent. I may not share your pain, but I do know what pain is. So you're not better just because you had it worse than I did."

Mortem actually paused at those words. He seemed to be deep in thought about something. But then he shook his head. "I've heard enough." He readied his scythe before saying, "You still haven't given me a reason to beli-" he was cut off when a cry of pain was suddenly heard from below.

We all looked down to see Clair holding a pirate back while a Lost Boy held an injured arm. "Hurting a kid? Have you no shame?"

"Not even a little. Now it's your turn."

Suddenly, something happened that I never would've expected. The pirate that hurt the lost boy was blasted by a lightning beam...from Mortem's scythe. I looked at Mortem, and I could see the intense anger on his face, and his heavy breathing. "You..." There was a long pause as darkness started gathering around him. "How dare you!" And all that darkness erupted at once. It was enough to knock me off the mast of the ship, but Peter was able to grab me before I fell in the water.

Looking up, Hook asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

The darkness swirled around Mortem as he growled, glaring furiously. Really not good. I couldn't stop watching at my deadly enemy as I hope his unleashing darkness won't hurt my cousin and... my new friends as well. "You'd deliberately harm a child!?" Mortem growled as a shadow starting appearing behind him. "And you had the gall to claim Pan was one torturing them?! YOU DIRTY COWARD!" Then that shadow turned into a floating monster. It looked like the upper half of a black skeleton wearing a white torn cloak that was covered in various treasure. It wore a red pirate hat decorated with the Unversed symbol and held a giant golden axe. A pair of red gems were lodged in its eye sockets.

Most of the crew took one look at the Unversed and then abandoned ship. I couldn't say I blamed them. That must've been terrifying for them to look at because they ignored the lifeboats and just dove into the water, while the rest of us couldn't help but gawk at the sight. "Ye bilge rats! Where are you going? Get back here and fight! He's on our side!" The captain barked at the crew who had fled the ship.

"Hook!" Mortem shouted. "For crossing the line, you will meet you end at hand of the Avaricious Wraith!" He the sicked the monster at him, which then proceeded to generate a bunch of ghostly flames.

Hook paled at the sight before him, taking a couple shaky steps back, then tried to run away. "HELP! SMEE!" The captain yelped out. The Avaricious Wraith, as Mortem called it, then started throwing those ghostly flames at Hook.

My cousin looked at me, unsure of what to do. I don't blame her. Should we really help him? He is a pirate, and his crew was going to try and kill us. Why was this so hard to decide?

"SMEEEE!" Hook shrieked as he almost got hit by another attack.

As the captain frantically dodged each fireball that came at him, I saw Smee running to a nearby row boat. "Quickly, Captain!" As Hook made his way toward Smee, the Wraith started slowly approaching them with its axe held menacingly in front of it. As I tried to decide what to do, Smee gasped at the sight. "Captain!" He pointed to the Unversed, making Hook pause to look and shriek at the sight.

"Jason, we have to help." Jiminy said

I did a double take. "What?"

"Helping others is right even if they don't deserve it."

Sighing I looked at Hook. "If we fight that thing, you have to swear to leave Neverland and never come back."

"What?!"

"You heard me, unless you want us to let that thing attack you." I frowned while Peter Pan floated next to me.

"Forget it." Hook said as he tried to climb into the boat with Smee. However, the Unversed fired an attack that knocked Hook back while the boat was sent into the water with Smee in it. Seeing his chance of escape slipping away Hook ran to the edge of the ship. However, a ticking noise made him stop. "Not that accursed crocodile!" He panicked as he ran back. When he realized he was heading for the Avaricious Wraith he screamed loudly and hid behind a barrell. "Okay. Old Hooky gives his word. I'll go away forever. I'll give you what little treasure I have. I'll do anything you say!"

At the word of treasure, Scrooge got a greedy look in his eyes. "I'll take that treasure."

"Leave, and never come back." I told him.

"All fair terms. Just save me!" The pirate ordered.

"All right..." Peter looked unsure before a grin appeared. "If you say you're a codfish."

"I'm a codfish."

"Louder!"

"I'm a codfish!" Hook bellowed for all of Neverland to hear.

From where they hid, the Lost Boys began to chant about how Hook was a codfish.

"There, Hook We'll help." Peter agreed.

"Now you better keep your word." I said to him as we turned to face the Avaricious Wraith. As we prepared for battle, we were joined by Tinker Bell and the one called Tiger Lily. "What are you doing?" I asked them.

"Helping." Tiger Lily said.

"Why are you protecting that scoundrel?" Mortem asked us.

"I'd rather not, but my conscience says that's the right thing to do." I told him. "Even if he's a horrible person..."

"Get ready, Tiger Lily." Clair said to her.

Mortem paused once again. Seriously, what are we saying that keeps making him think? But then he shook his head transformed his weapon back to its Keyblade form before pointing it at me. "Then you will share his fate!" Some sort of barrier appeared around the ship as Mortem made the first move. He charged forward, swinging his Keyblade at me, though I managed to block his attack. He then jumped back and started gathering darkness in his palm before throwing Dark Firagas at me. I had to jump to the side to avoid one, then dived down to avoid another before I quickly got back up on my feet. However Scrooge, Clair, and Peter got hit by the attacks, and all of them cried out in pain. Clair fell to her knees, but pushed herself back up. She's gotten tougher than I remember.

Before I could ask if she was all right, Mortem came at me once a again. We clashed several time before we locked blades. "You've been a disappointment with that Keyblade since we met," He said. "Now when are you gonna prove that yours isn't a sham?!" I did not know how I was going to answer that. I did want to beat him, to show him that he was wrong about me. No, it was more than that. For years I had felt I just needed to follow a script on how my life needed to be, and more than anything I wanted to prove the writer of that script wrong. I tightened my grip on my Keyblade. And now…

The Avaricious Wraith raised its axe to attack. "No!" Mortem snarled at his creation. "He's mine!"

As he moved to attack, I then thought I saw an opening. Reacting on instinct, I moved for the opening, and then I just socked him in the face. However, there was a flash of light and suddenly there were metallic gauntlets on my hands! As my attack collided, I couldn't help but stare at my gauntlets. "What in Gri's name?"

Mortem was sent crashing into the ship's mast so hard, that it broke in two, and falling onto the Wraith's head, throwing it off balance. Mortem then looked at me before saying, "What!? Since when could _you_ transform your Keyblade!?"

"Just now." That was all I could say. It had just... responded. That was the only thing I could think of to describe what had happened.

"I see." He then charged darkness through his Keyblade. "Well, then let's see what it can do! Dark Wave!" He launched a great burst of darkness at me.

At first I didn't know what to do, but then my gauntlets seem to act on their own and suddenly clapped together in front of me. A shockwave occurred on impact, which seemed to cause the dark blast to dissipate. My eyes widened at this, as did Mortem's. "... whoa." I said after a moment.

"Bless me bagpipes!" Scrooge said. Clair was shocked as well, but she had to avoid an attack from the Avaricious Wraith. She fired off spell after spell while Tiger Lily shot arrows at the Unversed. It then attacked them, forcing them to dodge.

I then heard something I didn't expect: A chuckle from Mortem. "Perhaps you're not as weak as I thought." He then transformed his keyblade into it bazooka form and began shoot dark spheres at me, which I was somehow able to block with my gauntlets. "Yes... That's it, Jason!" Did he actually use my name this time? "Give me a fight that's worth the effort!" He then charged more energy into his Bazooka. "Chaos Cannon!" And he fired a large orb of darkness. This one looked like it was gonna be hard to block.

I then decided to take a gamble and decided to punch the blast head on with my gauntlets. When my fist collided with it, I struggled to keep it back at first. It took so much strength but I managed to shove it right back at Mortem. Seeing this, Mortem was forced to dodge it. "Yes, that's it! Give me a challenge!"

He then used his scythe mode again and came at me. I was dodging this attack with reflexes that surprised even myself, until I manage to grab hold of his scythe's staff, and we struggled to push each other away. I could see his grin up close, and I could see that he was enjoying this fight. I honestly wasn't sure what to make of it. I then punched him gut, sending him back, but kept himself standing. I then dashed at him and began throwing my gauntlet covered fists at him one after another. He parried a couple of my hits during this. "This is what being a Keyblade bearer is about!" He told me as he deflected some blows. However, I managed to hit him a couple of times.

As for the Avaricious Wraith, I could hear Scrooge saying all sorts of expressions while Peter Pan managed to land a couple hits on the Unversed with his dagger. Then the treasure attached to the Wraith's cloak started detaching and floating around it, some forming ring shaped barriers, and some being thrown at Peter, Tiger Lily, Clair, and Scrooge. Peter managed to avoid them by flying upwards and Scrooge jumped through one to avoid getting hit by the outside. Clair and Tiger Lily also avoided getting injured.

I wanted to go and help them, but Mortem went on the offensive again. Charging up his scythe, he threw the attack at me. Holding my fist up the gauntlet managed to block the attack, though Mortem was able to get a kick in that knocked me back. I grunted as I landed on my back. Looking up, I saw Mortem leaping up to swing at me, so I rolled out of the way just in time. Mortem then pointed his scythe at me and started charging electricity. I was pretty sure he was about to shoot another electric beam at me. I then began to run towards him, trying to get close before he could finish charging his attack.

As I clutch my fists during my run, I could feel a strange energy coursing through my gauntlets. It made me feel more confident in myself than I had felt in a long time, like I could do anything. He then fired his electric beam, just as I was getting close. On instinct, I threw one of my fists forward, and I was shocked to see that not only had the fist of my gauntlet seem to morph into some kind of spike wrecking ball, but it tore threw the electric beam like it was nothing. It collided with the scythe, knocking it right out of his hand, and then I followed up with my other fist, which had also turned wrecking ball, and uppercutted him right into the air, and almost overboard had his hand not caught the rail. I looked at the wrecking balls again in awe, only for them to revert back to hands of my gauntlets.

"Worbazz." I swore at how effective they were. Smiling, I decided I loved these gauntlets. While Mortem was climbing back up, the others were still dealing with the Unversed, which by now the treasure chest had reattached itself to it again. Right. Time to help out. Running over to the Unversed, I decided to use my new gauntlets on it. I leapt up, throwing a punch at the Avaricious Wraith that sent it flying back through some of the odds and ends lying about, including the deck.

"Stop destroying me ship!" Hook yelled from the barrel he was hiding in.

As if on instinct I felt as though my weapon's power as gauntlets was running out, and yet I felt as though there was still enough power for one big attack. Trusting my instincts here, I jumped as high as I could, and surprisingly managing to jump above the Wraith. I charged energy into my gauntlets, putting them together as they ignited in flames that didn't burn me. I brought my fists down on it and instinctively shouted, "Meteor Smash!" as I slammed onto its head.

There was a blinding flash of bright light, followed a massive explosion that seemed to vaporize the Unversed from existence. While it ended up blowing up every barrel on board including Hook's, the attack didn't hurt any of us. I panted in exhaustion as my gauntlets reverted back to a Keyblade. I then noticed the darkness where the Unversed used to be flew right back towards Mortem. He had just gotten back onto the ship, when the darkness reentered him and he suddenly clutched his chest in pain in response.

My eyes widened a bit at this as he cringed, stumbling a bit as he clutched his chest. Upon seeing that, I felt concerned. I don't know why, but fighting with him the way I was, I can't explain it. It wasn't like we were friends, but I felt more respect for him as a warrior. He did look at me while he absorbed the energy from the Unversed.

Holding up his cane, Scrooge asked, "Had enough? Or are you still hungry for more?"

Mortem cringed again, not answering Scrooge. As Leroy, who I had not seen since the skirmish start, dropped down in front of Mortem in defense, growling at us. Mortem growled himself before saying, "You're stronger than I thought, I'll give you that." His voice came out a bit raspy. "Next time, I might have to take you more seriously." He then opened a dark portal behind him.

"Mortem, wait." Clair said. "Why did you do that? You broke off your previous battle with Jason to confront Hook."

"None of your business." He growled. "I have my reasons."

"What was that, exactly? Why did my Keyblade change to those... those Power Gauntlets?" I had no idea what else to call them, so I picked the first thing that came to my mind.

He scoffed at me. "You've seen me transform my Keyblade, and yet you're surprised? I don't remember the details personally, just that Keyblade Transformation is a skill that more experienced Keybearers can use. The fact that one as inexperienced as you is capable of doing so is baffling. You're probably better off asking someone else." With that, he left. That just left one item of business, as we turned to Hook.

"He's gone. Now it's time for you to keep your end of the deal." Scrooge said. "Your treasure. Where is it?"

Hook gulped, stumbling back as he pointed to a door that led into the inside of the ship. "I-In me cabin."

"Good. And you better tell the truth or you will regret it if we didn't find the treasure." I frowned.

Scrooge then entered Hook's cabin while we kept an eye on the captain. Sniffing around, Scrooge moved around the cabin until... "Is this all?" Didn't sound like Scrooge found a lot of treasure. Coming outside, he held up a small pouch that looked half-empty that jingled when he shook it.

Eh, yes. Y-You said you're going to let me go now." Hook said shakily. I can see he's hiding something.

"Not quiet. Like I just said, we have to make sure if your really telling the truth." I repeated.

"A pirate is always a liar. They're horrible to keep their words, aren't they?" Peter Pan added.

"It's not me fault I don't have much treasure. You stole me chest, then lost me treasure!" Hook accused Peter.

"Oh Like you lied to Mortem that Peter Pan is a bad person." I said. "You expected us to fall for this?"

"How was I supposed to know Mortem was crazy?" The captain defended himself.

"You used him." I frowned. "You lied to him. Told him that Peter Pan forced children to do his bidding."

"Well, I didn't lied all of it. I told the truth about my hand." The captain waved his hook.

Rolling my eyes, I said to the captain, "Just gather your men and sail as far away from this island as you can, and make sure you never ever come back." I told him as I turned my back to him. No sooner than I did than I felt something sharp slice across my back, making me cry out in pain as I fell forward, while cries of shock came from my friends.

"No landlubber tells Hook what to do." I heard Hook say as I turned around to see him raise his hook, which was now red with… Gri's beak! He did use that thing on me! Eyes narrowing, I lunged at the captain as he prepared to strike again, and mustering all my strength I threw Hook so hard he flew off the side of the ship towards the water.

There was this snap and a big splash, and we all looked over to see Hook, now in tattered clothes, swimming away from a large crocodile, which I swear had a ticking coming from it, as fast as he could. "Smee!" He called out as he he headed for the rowboat the rest of his crew had gotten into. Several times the jaws of the large reptile snapped shut and almost caught the pirate, but Hook always pulled away at the last minute. Finally he did a split motion in order to keep the jaws from closing on him, but as the crocodile forced its jaws closed the push resulted in Hook getting shot across the water calling out for Smee, who with the rest of the pirates were rowing after their captain while the crocodile gave hot pursuit.

"Heal." As my cousin cast the healing spell on me, I felt the cut that Hook gave me close up while my strength returned. As I turned to her, Peter then raised my arm up. "What are you doing?"

"Lost Boys. Let's hear it for Jason, the honorary member of the Lost Boys!" He said while the Lost Boys started cheering my name. Okay, what was this I was feeling? I had fought, and people loved me for it. Was this… pride?

Even Scrooge had a smile on his face. "Well done, lad."

"You've started to learn to listen to your conscience, and you're feeling the joy of doing what's right." Jiminy said as he returned to my shoulder.

I then began to smile. "Thanks, all of you. You did so much for my cousin and I while we were here, and now I feel like I haven't done much for you."  
"Are you kidding?" Peter asked me. "You led us on a fun game across Neverland, you came to the rescue when that Mortem almost got me, and you helped chase Hook out of Neverland. You did a lot for us."

"So now that the pirates are gone I guess things will calm down for you." Clair smiled.

Shaking her head, Tiger Lily says, "No matter how often Hook is chased off he comes back."

"But that's what makes it fun." Peter smiled. "As long as we focus on what's really important that old codfish will never beat us."  
What's really important. All of them here had so little, and yet they were happier than the people of Harthyn were. Was it the small and simple things, the bonds of their friendship, that made them happy? I hardly knew them, yet they considered me their friend. And somehow, I saw them as friends now too.

Tiger Lily then handed something to Clair. "I want you to have this bow. Consider it my thanks for coming to my rescue."

"Really?" My cousin seemed surprised at that. "But isn't this supposed to be yours or Peter's?"  
"Don't worry. I can make another bow." The girl then smiled. "I think it would be better if you had one to remember your visit to Neverland. I also have these for you." She then produced a couple of red feathers for us. However before either of us could take them they flew out of her hand and toward our Keyblades.

There was a flash of light as the feathers connected to the keychains, and then our Keyblades changed. Mine was now green with flowers forming the teeth, while Clair's had a really short green blade but a series of pipes formed the teeth on her weapon. Our eyes widened as we saw the new Keyblades in our possessions. "Whoa."

"Looks like Neverland wanted to thank you too." Peter smiled.

I didn't understand that, but probably best not to ask. "Hey, Tinker Bell? Before we leave, do you think you could sprinkle some of that pixie dust you gave me on her?" I expected her to protest, but instead she just smiled and flew over my cousin, sprinkling the dust on her.

Gasping as she began to float up, she asked, "Whoa, what? This really is pixie dust? I read about it in a spellbook, but-."  
"Last one back to shore's a codfish." Peter smiled as we all began flying back to shore.

* * *

Back on the Gummi ship, I thought about my experiences on Neverland. For the first time in a long time I had truly enjoyed myself, and somehow I had accessed a new power with my Keyblade. But why? What had triggered the power? Did it have something to do with the fight against Mortem? Was it because I was fighting for my life that time? Maybe it was, but it felt like there was something more.

As I looked to where Scrooge and Clair were sitting, I thought about our trip to Agrabah. That had ended in disaster because of me. Scrooge acts like he's okay now, but something didn't seem right about that. While I was musing over what to do I then heard a noise coming from my pocket. My holo-screen? Pulling it out, I said, "Answer call."

An image of Sora appeared before me. "Hiya. Is everyone doing okay?"

"Splendid. We just finished a little adventure to Neverland." Scrooge smiled as he peeked over my shoulder. "Perchance, is my nephew there with you?"

"Right here, Uncle Scrooge." Donald said as he appeared on screen.

My cousin then squeezed in. "Why are you calling us?"

"Something's come up. Can you meet us in Agrabah?" Sora asked.

* * *

EINI'S POV

I didn't know so many people could live together in such a small space. How did they not go nuts?! I could barely stand to be at one of my parents' parties for an hour, and they were usually held somewhere 'spacious' and 'open'. I didn't know why all the adults were obsessed with 'spacious' and 'open' places when they just spent their time getting in each others' personal space anyway.

So of course I ordered some architects to fix this place up. Thanks to its structural position near the bottom of the city, it would probably never be 'spacious' or 'open' or whatever Mom and Dad think good design is, but it might ease the congestion just a little.

Someone tapped my arm, and I could see one of Brax's siblings looking up at me with wide eyes, "Are you really gonna have them change our neighborhood?"

I crouched down, "I have to wait and see what the architects think is a good idea, but I'd like to. Is there anything you want me to ask them to do...?" I paused, "I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"I'm Craig," The boy explained, "They're not gonna change our house too much are they?"

"Why wouldn't you want your house to change? They'd just rearrange it to make it a little bigger. Wouldn't you like that?"

"It's cause I don't wanna lose the growing door," He explained.

"The what now?"

A girl about my age walked up behind Craig, "It's kind of our little family thing. I can show you, if you want." She held out her hand to shake mine, "I'm Lindsay, by the way."

I shook her hand, "I'm Eini. And sure, I'd like to see this thing."

Lindsay led me through the house, around some of her siblings who were scrambling to get ready. I could see the older ones helping the younger ones with buttons and zippers. It was weird. Nobody had helped me with those since… I guess I had a vague recollection of one of my nannies helping me when I was little, but the youngest one here had to be at least five.

"Here it is," Lindsay snapped me out of my thoughts. I saw she was pointing to an old door that had all kinds of marks on it. By each mark, I could see a name and an age. "Every time one of us has a birthday, we put a mark on the door to show how much they've grown. It's… kind of important to the younger ones right now…" she said as she crouched down and ran her fingers over a mark labelled 'Marcas- 2 years'. She looked like she was about to cry, "They loved their baby brother, and Craig especially thinks we'll forget him if we don't keep these memories around." She looked at me and smiled, but I knew she was crying inside, "It must seem silly to you, huh?"

I shrugged, "A Verugian Knight would be strange strange to a Hocamli Brave... My parents got rid of everything from when I was little. They're all about big, empty spaces, you know?"

Lindsay seemed shocked, "Everything? What about your baby blanket?" I nodded, "Your stuffed toys?" I nodded, "Your growth files?" I nodded again, "Wow…"

"It's whatever," I lied, "But I can certainly ask the architects to talk with you and the other residents about what to keep, if it's that important to you." The second part wasn't a lie. I knew what it felt like to have some distant person want to erase you, and it wasn't a feeling I wanted to pass on if I could help it.

"Thank you," Lindsay breathed.

"Hey, no problem," I replied. I hesitated a moment, "Can you show me around some more? I'd like to meet the rest of your siblings, too, if that's okay."

Lindsay blinked, "Sure."

"And one more thing: while we're out, feel free to get anything you want. That goes for all of you," I told her as I pointed to myself, "This girl hasn't gone on a good shopping spree in ages but the station is too small for me to only buy things for myself."

"Thanks but no thanks," Lindsay replied, "We don't like to take advantage of people."

"Don't think of it that way," I gave her a nudge with my elbow, "Think of it as I'm going to turn a mountain into a valley and _someone_ is going to reap the benefits. I'm asking you guys to be that someone, and if you don't take me up on it, I'll just find someone else to take me up on it, mmkay?"

Lindsay looked hesitant, "It's a lot of money..."  
"You know my last name is Krista, right?" I put my hands on my hips, "I've turned my nose up at complimentary gifts that cost more than all the rent in this neighborhood combined. Money is not an issue." I smiled, "Besides, you would look great in some sparkly stuff."

Lindsay looked down, "It feels wrong to ask, but… Well… Blair, Craig, Ellie, and Fi are outgrowing their clothes…"

"No problem! What else?"

"Ross and Scott need new winter boots…"

"Great! Come on, what else?"

"I… can't really think of anything else we _need_ …"

"Then what's something you _want?_ " I pressed, "It doesn't necessarily have to be for you. Can you think of anything you'd like for your mom? Or your Dad? Or any of your siblings?"

Lindsay looked around before she lowered her voice, "I've always wanted to get Mom some new appliances to help her out around the house… The stuff in the kitchen is older than she is…"

"Now we're getting somewhere," I grinned, pulling up my favorite stores on my holo-screen. "Hmm… let's see… Nancy Dancy has a sale on appliances today, so I can find a good fit there. Oh, and I can put you down for a personalized home mech if you want."

"You mean we wouldn't have to do chores?"  
"Yeah!"

To my surprise their faces fell. "Then we'll lose some of our games."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"It's a tradition of sorts." Lindsay explained. "We turn our personal chores into fun activities. For example sometimes pieces of laundry don't finish drying so before they go in we make bets on what will still be wet when it comes out. It's a fun guessing game."

I actually blinked at that. They did chores _AND_ they got fun out of it?! What did people do down here that we didn't do up on the higher levels? They were not as well off as we were, and yet it seemed like they found ways to be content with their situation. Well, thankfully I was here to help improve their lives.

There was a knock on the door and we noticed Braxton's dad had stuck his head in. "Everyone ready to go?"  
"We're ready!" Some of the younger ones exclaimed, "Eini said she was gonna get us some new clothes!"

Braxton's dad looked at me, "Did she, now? That's very nice of her."  
I shrugged, "Shopping is what I do best."

For some reason, he seemed saddened by that, but he smiled at his kids, "Well, let's not spend too long shopping. I'm sure we're all very hungry for lunch!"

I nodded, even though I had to wonder why they seemed reluctant to let me buy stuff for them. It was free stuff. Didn't people like free stuff? I realized I hadn't responded, "Why don't we take the Float Boat?"

Before anyone could take me up on it, Gracie spoke up, "The Float Boat you rented only seats eight people. We'd have to order a bigger one to seat everybody, and it would take their pilot an hour to get here and swap them out…"

"Why don't we walk?" Braxton's dad suggested, "This may not be the fanciest place in Netokan, but it'll be safe for all of us to walk together. It might let out some of that energy from being cooped up in the station for so long."

Walk? But that… wait. Maybe it could give me a good idea on what in these levels needs renovation. This could be an opportunity that I've been waiting for. "Just let me give the driver instructions, and then I'll be ready to go."

I ordered an upgrade to a bigger Float Boat and instructed the driver to meet us at the shopping center between this level and the next one up so he could drive us back. With that, all fourteen of us left the house.

* * *

 **So Jason got the Pixie Petal Keyblade and Clair got the Fairy Harp Keyblade.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.**


	21. Treasure Worth More than Gold

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Jason and Clair are mine.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Axel Dixon belongs to TheGoodandTheBadXBoy.**

 **Special thanks to YamiChaos27, AquaStormfall, and TheGoodandTheBadXBoy for helping to write this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 21: Treasure Worth More than Gold

MORTEM'S POV

Agrabah…

I couldn't help but stay amused at what had transpired in the last world. Jason had actually managed to achieve a level of power most Keyblade wielders haven't, and only in a few weeks. Our last confrontation had been the most enjoyable yet. I honestly didn't know why I got so excited back there, but something told me I felt a similar rush once before. Regardless, I was now itching for a rematch with him.

As I paid for some bread at one of the stands in Agrabah's marketplace, I looked up at the palace that loomed over the rest of the city. In there was one of the hearts I needed. I had one now, and it had managed to awaken some of my memories. I may not have liked what I had seen, but it worked so I will continue until I had all seven hearts. For now, the only thing I was interested in was filling my belly.

After walking around for a few minutes I was able to find a place to sit and eat that was out of this blazing hot sun. As I made myself comfortable, Leroy then spoke up. "What's our plan of attack?"

"First we eat. Then we get inside the palace and take the heart." I said as I handed Leroy some of the food. "This time we'll get it for sure no matter what guards or genies we face."

"You've been in a much better mood ever since Neverland."

"One of the two has started becoming a worthwhile opponent. He's not as good as I am, but now I'm starting to feel a little more respect for him. It's not many who can change their Keyblade into another weapon."

"Will you be able to do him in? You'd better not be going soft on those kids."

I then glared at my companion. "Let me be clear about something: there's no force on this or any world, or in the heavens, that will keep me from doing him in. I'm just glad that he's going to make it a challenge. But my first objective is obtaining all seven hearts and reclaiming my memories."

As I prepared to take a bite of my bread, I then saw something down the alley. Two children were looking around some of the urns… wait. Was that a fish skeleton they pulled out? That explains why they looked a little undernourished. They must be paupers who can't afford to buy food from the market.

Looking at Leroy, who just shoved his bread into his mouth and began chewing viciously, I looked at some of the food we still had. What was this feeling I had? It reminded me of when I was moved to help that kid in Devil's Bayou, and when I took Alice's heart. The little boy tried to wander forward, but the girl who I suspected to be his older sister held him back. When she did that for a second she was replaced by the image of a twelve-year old girl with brunette hair tied in pigtails.

With a groan I held my head at that. What was that? Who was she? When I looked again she was back to being the pauper girl, and she was still looking at our food and us with eyes full of hope and sadness. They must be used to being ignored by people who had food to spare. With a sigh, I took what we had left and walked down to the two kids.

They backed up a bit at first, like they were unsure of what I was about to do. Holding out the rest of the food to them, I said, "Here. You need it more than I do." With smiles appearing on their faces they accepted and began to eat. Seeing them happy like that just felt right to me, and with that taken care of I began to leave.

While I walked, Leroy rejoined me. "What was that about?"

"Don't know. Just felt right to do." I told him. I would've said more, but then I stopped. I saw someone ahead, and upon closer inspection I realized it was Sora. He seemed to be waiting around for someone, but who and why? Curiosity took over as I crept up closer to him.

While he waited a woman in brown robes and some sort of head scarf approached him. I sensed a pure light coming from her, so it had to be the princess of this world. I could've just went over to her and took her heart and be done with it, but I was too curious to what was going on so I decided to listen in. Turning to her, the Keyblade Hero said, "Jasmine. Thanks for coming."

"I am curious about how you intend to test Jason when he returns." She said as the two of them walked. "I'm still not sure why I should give him a second chance."

A test for Jason? That was interesting. And the whole second chance thing sounded like they had a falling out last time he was here, not that I could blame them given how annoying he was for a while. Regardless, I found myself curious as to where this was going.

"He's realized he was wrong, and has been trying to do better. I think if he's given a second chance he won't let you down." The Keyblade Hero said.

"Oh, really?" She didn't sound convinced. "And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"It's a surprise, but I need you to convince him to go to the Cave of Wonders."

"Why? Why the Cave of Wonders?"

"That's why I was going to introduce you to some new friends." Sora then gestured to some people walked up to him. Both appeared to be around my age, maybe a little older. One was a woman with blue hair and a black top with a corset and shorts. She also had white bell sleeves and cloths from her belt, and leggings with strange pointed shoes. The other was a man with brown hair and a black shirt that was tight enough to show his muscles. He also wore some poofy pants… no, hakama. They were called hakama. How did I know that?

The man took a look in my direction, and I had to move out of sight. I don't know why, but I had a feeling I had faced him before. That was strange because I have never seen him in my life, and yet something inside made me feel as if I did not want to face him in battle anytime soon. Once I felt safe, I thought about what I heard. Cave of Wonders? What was that place, and why did Sora feel like it would be good to use for this test? I was getting too curious about this.

Turning to the red monster, I said, "Change of plans Leroy. We're going to this Cave of Wonders."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I couldn't believe we were back in Agrabah so soon. I didn't think we'd be coming back after what happened at least for a little bit longer. What could've happened that would've merited our return? Nothing appeared out of the ordinary in the marketplace. It was just as I remembered from last time with people buying and selling stuff. I just hope the people of Agrabah don't run Jason off for what happened.

"Are you okay, lass?" Scrooge asked me while Jason kept his head low.

Taking a breath I gave voice to my thoughts. "Do you think they're ready to welcome us back after-"

"After what I did." Jason muttered.

"Anything is possible." Scrooge said. "Though I must admit I find it unlikely."

THat earned a sigh from my cousin. "Do I need to get it tattooed to my forehead?"

"You learn from your mistake, lad." Our chaperone told him. "You gotta face it eventually, and moping on it isn't going to change it. If you want people to like you, be likeable. Have a goal in life. Promise the world, and then deliver it. Whatever it is you fear, face it. Take risks."

"Easy to say when you're a billionaire." Jason said.

"Quadzillionaire." The old duck corrected him before adding, "And I didn't start out that way. I used to be quite poor, so I took a job shining shoes. My first customer paid me a dime, which was worthless where I was living. Instead of giving up, I decided to focus myself by becoming rich. And you know how I did it? By being smarter than the smarties and tougher than the toughies."

"Is there a point?"

"Aye lad. And it can be explained in two simple words: Man up."

MY cousin stopped at that. "You don't think I'm acting like a man."

"I know you're not. But hopefully we can change that here."

"I'm doing what my parents taught me how to treat with people." I added.

I then noticed Jason still looked down, but it seems like he's pondering about our words and Scrooge's brief story about his poor past.

"There you are!" A familiar voice said. Turning, the three of us saw it was Sora.

"Hi, Sora." I waved at him before asking. "How come you're still in your regular clothes?"  
"Donald never enchanted mine to change in different… places. And there have been times I wish he did." The Keyblade Master answered while remembering not to say worlds. He then motioned for us to follow him. "Come on. We don't have a lot of time." We then followed him through the streets of Agrabah to the gates of the palace, though I noticed Jason lagged behind like he didn't want to be there. I could see Aladdin, Jasmine, and Carpet were already there and waiting for us. "They're here." Sora told them.

My cousin tried to avoid making eye contact with them. However he, like the rest of us were startled when a familiar blue figure appeared in a flash. "Welcome back, all of you!"

That made me jump back with a gasp. I forgot he could do that. "H-hey, Genie." I greeted despite being uncomfortable about his 'poof-trick appearance'. "So what's up? Did you forgive Jason yet?"

The look Jasmine gave made me want to crawl under a rock. "No, but something's come up that he can help with. A relic that has been passed down from generations has been stolen from my father's vault. If we don't get it back Agrabah will lose itself."

"Do you know who stole it?" Jason asked them.

"A thief. According to Genie it somehow ended up in the Cave of Wonders."

I did a double take at that. "The Cave of Wonders?" I remember coming across that name in one of Merlin's books, but I couldn't remember any other details about it. "What's the Cave of Wonders?"

"It's a cave-." Jasmine began to explain.

"Allow me." Genie said as seats appeared underneath us and Genie poofed himself into an old projector that began playing something on a piece of cloth that also appeared out of nowhere. "Here we have a simple desert, correct? Nothing out of the ordinary until…" The desert sand in the began to swell and shift until it took the shape of a massive feline head with glowing eyes. The mouth opened up to reveal a passage that led into the ground. "The incredible Cave of Wonders reveals itself!"

We then saw images of massive piles of treasure scattered within the cave. When Scrooge saw all the gold and jewels lying in such shiny dunes his expression changed. "Incredible. So much." He whispered, and I swear his eyes changed to show the value.

"Within lies a thousand years of treasure collected from over a thousand and one kingdoms." The Genie continued to narrate, though the information caused Scrooge's bill to drop. THat was a lot of money."But despite it lying around, the treasure is not for the taking." The Genie continued to narrate. "Touch even one coin you are not supposed to, even with a shirt, and you could be reduced to dust."

Yikes. No thanks. I didn't want to touch any cursed treasure.

Scrooge's mouth clamped shut. "Ye sayin' even one tap on anythin' could possibly doom you?"

"Correct." Genie pointed at him.

"Even one golden piece?"

"Even one golden piece, and that's assuming the guardian, the very entrance, lets you pass. Only those who are deemed worthy are allowed within. Any soul judged to be unfit who tries to push their way in faces instant death."

"Is this a suicide mission you're sending us on?" I asked.

"Then how did the thief get in?" Jason asked.

As Genie changed back, Aladdin answered. "He sorta did. Made a few steps before he..."

I shuddered at that.

"So, is that why you wanted us? So if we die it's no skin off your noses?" Jason asked.

"To be able to enter the Cave says a lot about you." Jasmine said. "According to research done by a former vizier to be able to enter the cave means there is something special about you, something that goes beyond wealth or power. Something about the person's character. Their heart."

Their heart? Before I could thinking about it more Jason spoke up. "So what exactly are we looking for?"

"You'll know when you find it." Jasmine said with a smile.

One look at Jason and I saw he had the same confused look I did. Why did it feel like there was something they weren't telling us? How were we going to know when we found this thing? What if we touched something we shouldn't? Jason then looked at his shoulder before looking back. Probably getting advice from Jiminy. "Okay. We'll help."

We had to use some horses from the palace to move across the desert as there wasn't enough room for all of us on Carpet. By then night was falling and I was getting a little tired. I yawned a bit, though I willed myself to stay awake the best I could. I couldn't help but ask, "How much further...?"

"We're almost there." Aladdin said as he took something out of his vest while Jasmine took something out of the satchel she carried. As they brought them together, something clicked and there was a glow, and then something flew off into the desert.

"What was that?" I asked.

My question went unanswered as Genie turned into some sort of guy in a wide hat wearing a black mask on a white horse. "Heigh-ho, Silver. Away!"

"Follow the scarab!" Aladdin called out to us as Carpet flew by. Some urging from Scrooge to our mounts got them to follow them across the sands. We raced across the dunes before the glowing scarab thing split into two and buried themselves in a sand dune. Then, there was a rumbling and in front of us the dune erupted into a massive feline head. The entrance to the Cave of Wonders!

My jaw dropped at the sight. "Gri's beak."

As we dismounted, Scrooge took a sniff and his eyes widened. "I smell treasure!" With that he began running off before we could stop him. However, as he approached the mouth, he got blasted back by a gust that came from the head.

"Who disturbs my slumber?" The cave entrance asked us in a voice that made my legs shake. The Cave could talk?!

"Scrooge McDuck, ya big boulder." Scrooge snapped.

"And Clair Fay." I added.

"Jason Norman." Jason continued. For several seconds the Cave looked at us. I felt like it was searching my soul. Were we truly worthy to enter it?

"Proceed. Touch nothing but what you seek." With that the entrance opened its mouth. We exchanged a look before slowly and cautiously approaching the cave. As we made it to the entrance, I hesitated for a moment, then stepped inside first. I braced myself for something bad to happen, but nothing did. Jason slowly stepped into the entrance, bracing himself as well but getting the same result.

Scrooge then ran past us, with that same look in his eyes when he sniffed the treasure within earlier. Oh, no. I had a bad feeling about him. My cousin and I quickly hurried after him. "Scrooge!" I called out to our chaperone as we headed deeper into the cave, taking a path with several twists and turns.

When we entered a room my jaw just dropped. There were mountains of treasure in here, from golden idols to chests of gold coins. Jason and I couldn't help but stare in awe at the riches that were strewn about before us. There was more than enough here to make someone.. Wait. Scrooge was about to leap into a pile! Before he could he was knocked back by something. As he was thrown back to us, we looked to see who had knocked our friend back, but there was no one there.

Scrooge groaned, then tried to move again, only for me to hold him in place. "No, Scrooge!"

"But lass-!"

"Who's there?" Jason called, but he didn't get an answer. Upon that, he turned to the elderly duck. "Did you forget? We're not supposed to touch anything but whatever was stolen. Do you want to end up a pile of dust."

Shrugging off what I said, his response was, "Oh, I've dealt with far worse curses than anything this cave has. I've gathered quite the collection from my adventures."

"We're not here to add to it." My cousin frowned. "We're here to retrieve whatever it was that was stolen. And given what's here, it feels like trying to stop a kaiju with a toothpick."

"You worry too much." Scrooge said. "If it makes you happy I won't touch anything until we get out with the totem."

* * *

JASON'S POV

It took some effort, but we were finally able to get a promise that made us feel better to release Scrooge and continue on our way into the cave. As we headed through the room filled with treasure, I looked left and right trying to find at least something that might have been the thing that was stolen. However nothing seemed to stick out. With a sigh, I shook my head at how this was feeling impossible. "Any luck, Clair?"

"Not a clue." My cousin said, which I responded with a frustrated groan. If I didn't find that item there was no way I was ever going to be forgiven by the princess. And because they were associated with me Clair and Scrooge would also suffer from this. Why did consequences have to be so worbazz frustrating?

As we wandered through the caves, I paused as we passed through a particularly dark area. It must've been a trick, but I thought I saw someone. "Huh...?" I blinked. Then, I found myself in a place I knew too well. Harthyn?! I looked around with surprise. What... how did I get here?! Where was the cave?!

"Clair...?" I called. However, there was no answer from her while I looked around. I knew these streets well. They were places I would hang out when I was younger, bordering on the areas that were now perpetuated to be home to the Downtrod. Mom never allowed me to go down there anymore, but somehow this didn't seem like now. It was just like I remembered as a kid, with people putting up fresh graffiti and more people begging for money.

I then heard something that was too familiar to me. "Please, Jason. Stop this!" Turning, I saw a kid cowering in fear, and standing over him was me! Well, me when I was at least five years younger. What was going on? How was this possible?

My younger self ignored the poor kid's pleas as he kicked him again. What did he do again? Or was this me just not caring? Seeing myself like this, mercilessly beating on someone else while mocking them and hurting them, it was like someone plunged a knife into my gut and twisted it. I started hunching over as if I was the one who was being beaten. Then, I saw my younger self beating up another kid, and another, and another. What was going on? The images started blurring together, as if I had never stopped causing people pain.

"So much pain. So much sadness." Someone said. I turned to see someone in armor standing behind me. I could tell by their figure and the way they carried themself that they were feminine. "All this darkness you spread to the children of your world, and yet only a few ever stood up to you."

Before I could ask who she was, the images stopped blurring together and showed me beating someone else up when someone placed their hand on my shoulder. My younger self turned and got a fist to their face.

Turning away, I looked at her. "Who are you?!" I asked, taking a step back. "What's going on here?"

The person looked at me, and even though they were wearing a helmet, I could swear I could feel their eyes piercing me. "This is a measure of your guilt, showing you how you have given in to the darkness your entire life." The figure said, and her voice confirmed my suspicions that this was a woman.

"My guilt...? Darkness...?" I repeated, taking a step back again, though she continued to approach me.

Out of the corner of my eye my younger self began fighting the person who tried to stop me.

"Yes." The figure said. "A darkness that has been growing and eating away at you for years now. The Keyblade you bear, if misused, will result in it consuming you completely."

"You don't know that!" I said.

She then paused before saying, "I watched people I knew be consumed in a similar fashion. So yes I do know that."

That made me look down. "But I came here to make things right."

"Can you though? Can you change years of hurting others?" I swear the figure looked at me in a way that suggested the eyes were narrowing. "Tell me. What do you intend to do to make things right? How can you heal years of pain? Do you think you can do it without help?"

"You are just a miserable jerk who seeks any respect for yourself!" I heard the kid who picked a fight with my younger self say. When I turned to look I ended up giving a gasp of recognition. The kid who was fighting against my young self was wearing dark self wears green jacket, blue jeans, red t-shirt just like I had now, but with some sort of wolf on the middle of it.

My eyes were on that kid. Thought I would never see that face again after the fire last year with his intense auburn hair and brown eyes. Still, all of the kids I picked on, why him... The one who didn't ever beg or run away... Ruined my old pride… "Axel Dixon." I felt the name slide out of my mouth.

"Who asked you?" My younger self punched him again while the figure's question echoed in my mind.

"Your actions did!" He then grabbed my younger self, and after a few quick minutes he won the fight. "You only fight to make yourself feel better! You don't know what it's like to put your sorry hide out for the little people."

"Neither do you!"

"Wrong. I stood up to you. That makes me a better person than you'll ever be." With a growl my younger self managed to get a punch that knocked Axel back, and then I could see some of my other friends looking including Steven. However, instead of cheering they just shook their heads and turned away. I could feel the pain all over again, of having people I thought I could trust only to end up being cast aside by them. I remember feeling confused and betrayed, like they had ganged up just to make me feel bad.

My younger self, trying to understand why his buddies were now turning on him, forgot about the fight he had gotten in. Getting up, Axel socked the past me so hard he created a bruise and a black eye at the same time. "You play at being tough, but you know nothing about what it means to fight. You want to make yourself feel powerful when you have no idea what power truly is. And I refuse to believe you ever will."

For some reason, looking back at what I had seen, I couldn't help but feel he was right. I didn't know what power was, and I still feel like I don't. Sure I have the Keyblade, and I got this cool ability with it, but what good was it if I didn't understand how to activate it? Was I really fit to carry it? After seeing my past, I wasn't so sure.

All I've learned so far is I've been untrustworthy and rash, and that has caused problems in Agrabah and Motunui. And seeing how I've been, have I really been able to change in just a few hours? That didn't seem right. Maybe I wasn't any different from that boy who fought others, and lost the people he thought had been his friends when he lost.

"Jason!" I heard Clair cry out, making me look to see the armored figure call forth a Keyblade and block... Mortem?! As the two clashed the environment changed back to the cave we were in. What was he doing here, and how did he get into the cave?! No matter. We needed to stop him before something bad happened.

The figure managed to force him back while Mortem landed on his feet with a growl. Summoning my Keyblade, I got ready to fight our foe. "What are you doing here, Mortem?"

He shouldered his Keyblade. "Well, I was about to capture the princess's heart, but then I heard something about this Cave of Wonders that caught my interest. And who else would be involved here than the boy I've been itching for a rematch with?" His Keyblade began to glow with the energy I knew too well as he unleashed his first attack. "Dark Wave!"

The armored figure and I dove out of the way as the surge of dark energy before she went on the offensive. Swinging her Keyblade… wait. Did she just throw a bunch of bubbles at Mortem? The ones that hit him managed to do some damage, though rocks came flying at the others and popped them. Leroy's voice then cut through the darkness of the cave full of insults. The dark warrior then threw a few dark fireballs at us, but a barrier then appeared before us thanks to the armored figure. "This was not how things were supposed to go." She said.

"What?" I asked.

Before she could answer, Mortem fired a big attack, blasting through the barrier. "Out of my way!" He shouted as Unversed started appearing around us. I groaned as they began leaping at us. Not these things again. Clair summoned hers as well, but Mortem ignored her and came straight at me. However, the armored figure got in his way. "Get out of my way."

"You want him, you have to go through me first." The figure said to my surprise. Why was she defending me? I've never seen her before.

"So be it!" Mortem then transformed his Keyblade into its scythe mode.

I heard a gasp like that surprised the woman. Getting up, I said, "No. He's our problem. I need to face him." In response the figure somehow sent me flying backwards, and when I was far enough a barrier appeared, sealing me out and leaving me to deal with the Unversed with my cousin. "What the- hey!" I protested. Unfortunately I didn't time to argue with her, as the Unversed started attacking us while Mortem attacked her.

* * *

 **Probably unfair of me to cut right here, but I figured a few chapters would make up for the month long hiatus.**


	22. A Fallen Hero

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Special thanks to YamiChaos27, AquaDestiniesEmbrace, and TheGoodandTheBadXBoy for helping write this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 22: A Fallen Hero

MORTEM'S POV

This woman was either really strong or really brave to take me on by herself. I was sure she was the blue haired one from the marketplace, but why did I feel like I crossed blades with her before? Whatever the case, I shook my head. Now was not the time for such thoughts. I started swinging at her with my Death Scythe. She dodged my swing, then parried another. "Don't try to patronize me, lady or whoever you are!" I swing my scythe at her, but she blocked with her own Keyblade this time.

"Blizzaga!" She fired the spell at me, so I leapt to the side to avoid getting hit though I could still feel the chill. Before I could react, she began to spin around as a pillar of light shot out from her Keyblade and hit me. I yelled out in pain as I felt them hit me. I kept getting hit until I finally landed on the ground with an audible thud. My anger grew as I stood up, darkness gathering around me. I let out a battlecry as I unleashed it. I pointed my scythe at her and fired an electric beam at her.

My attack was a direct hit that forced her back a bit. Leroy then began to roll forward, but when he got to a certain point there was an explosion that sent him flying back. When I tried to move forward the same thing happened to me. With a growl I realized what spell she had used.

Mine Square.

I tried to move in a different direction, at the same time being cautious while trying to attack her. But despite my efforts, as I clashed with her, I took a wrong step, and found myself blasted high into the air. The woman then leapt up to me with her Keyblade, but I defended with my scythe, but she managed to send me crashing into a wall with a grunt from me.

With a growl, Leroy ripped out a stalagmite and threw it at the woman. As she cartwheeled out of the way she then fired another attack, a series of lights that were the colors of the rainbow that flew towards the two of us. I twirled my scythe in front of me, deflecting the projectiles, before I threw my scythe at her like a boomerang. She managed to deflect it, although the blade succeeded in cutting her arm. She ended up clutching her injury, and I moved in to strike her down for good, but she caught my attack with her Keyblade. "Heal." She said, and the green light made her injury vanish. She wasn't a pushover, that was for sure.

"Magic Hour!" She shouted as she suddenly vanish in front of me, only to reappear above me. She came crashing down with her Keyblade. I jumped out of the way, and she hit the ground with a burst of light. However she repeated this attack two more times. The second I dodged, but the third land too close as I was knocked onto the ground.

My rage grew once again, and I unleashed more darkness. I charged intense electrical energy through my Death Scythe as I pulled it back. "Reaper Storm!" I leapt at her as I spun around with my scythe, generating an electrical whirlwind as I flew at her.

The woman cartwheeled out of the way, though I kept spinning around. With a growl I unleashed my attack that did considerable damage to her. Gasping in pain she was sent flying back a few feet. I could feel the power surging through my scythe dwindling. I needed to wrap this up and take down this person. I gritted my teeth, tightening my grip on my weapon. I charged what was left of my Death Scythe's power, and dashed to her holding my weapon high, ready to plunge its blade into her.

Only for my scythe to stop its tracks and I found myself unable to move it. "What!" I shouted as I looked at it and noticed that something seemed to wrap around it, almost like a whip. I looked behind me to see that the source of this 'whip' was another armored figure, this time with gold armor as oppose to the woman's blue.

"That's enough." the new figure said with a male voice. With a pull he flung me over his head and away from the woman. My scythe ended up transforming back into its Keyblade form while the new figure faced me.

I saw the man's whip revert to its Keyblade form, and I growled. No doubt this was the other person I saw back at the city, the one that for some reason made me wary. "You know everyone getting in my way is getting really annoying! Which is a grave mistake for all of you!" With a cry I leapt forward, coating my Keyblade in darkness as I dove towards him blade first. "Dark Break!"

To my surprise he managed to parry my blow, but that wasn't enough to stop me. We began to clash with our Keyblades, and every time he pressed his offensive I gritted my teeth to force his weapon back. When I finally managed to push him back I knew I had to do something to get him out of my way. "Darkness Wave!" I fired the attack at him. However, when he was knocked back, he vanished. While I looked around for him, a demonic hand erupted from the ground, catching me off guard.

"What?" I gasped as I landed. Before he could attack again Leroy rolled over and grabbed him, tossing the armored man aside like he was nothing. As he crashed against a stalactite I then transformed my Vengeful Chaos into its Dark Bazooka form and started firing projectiles at him. He worked hard at deflecting them, but he got hit by quite a few that made him grunt in pain.

I started to charge more energy into my bazooka. To my surprise though, the figure morphed his Keyblade into a large cannon and started charging energy himself. Too late to call off the attack our weapons fired at the same time and collided with each other resulting in an explosion. The force of the explosion was stronger the I expected, as I was sent crashing into a wall.

As I groaned, some images flashed into my mind of a fight similar to this one, but in a different world. Di-did I clash with him before? I shook my head as I held it. Did I? In my moment of distraction, I suddenly found myself with the man's Keyblade up close and pointing at my chest. This definitely felt too familiar as I looked up at him. "Who are you?!"

"My name is Terra, and I will not-."

"Infidels!" We heard the cave roar. "You have touched the forbidden treasure!"

That took his attention away. "What? Scrooge!"

Over to the side I saw Scrooge was scooping as much gold as he could into his hat and pockets, right when the pile began to melt.

"Now you will never again see the light of day! Die!" With those words all the pools of water around us changed to lava, and fire spouted out all around while the cave shook and threatened to come down on top of us. Terra and I leapt in opposite directions to avoid getting crushed by a huge stalactite.

My eyes widened at this.

"Scrooge! You know you weren't supposed to touch anything!" Clair told him.

So this duck was a greedy one. He must have either ignored or forgotten what they had said. The duck gave them a very nervous chuckle. "I-I...couldn't...h-help...myself..."

I couldn't help by glare at him. As if these armored nuisances blocking my rematch with Jason wasn't irritating enough, but now this place was collapsing, ruining that chance completely, all because of this duck's greed and stupidity. My anger was burning as darkness surrounded me. Letting out a battlecry, my darkness unleashed a large unversed. This one somewhat resembled that wacky genie, except much more intimidating. It was dark purple, had a fire-red chest plate with the Unversed symbol, had flaming claws, and there were large horns on its head as well as a fiery mane. It was exhaling embers from its sharp-toothed mouth. The name Inferno Djinn popped into my head.

"Can this day get any worse?" I heard Jason complain as the others stared at my latest creation.

I seethed, panting a bit from not just my anger, but the greed I felt this treasure brought that went into the Unversed. "You... idiot..." I said, direction it to the duck. "You just had to get greedy and ruin everything..." I then shouted. "You want everyone to die in this fiery pit?! Fine!" I opened a dark corridor. "This Inferno Djinn will make sure you're roasted!" And with that I left, with Leroy rushing behind me.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

Well this was just great. Mortem attacks out of nowhere, Scrooge stupidly takes the forbidden treasure causing this cave to wanna bury us alive, and to make matters even worse a fiery genie Unversed, this Inferno Djinn as Mortem called it, was dead set on making sure we burn down here.

"Now what do we do!?" I heard Jason shouted.

"We get out of here." The first armored figure said with the other nodding in agreement.

"But we need to find something first." I said

"Unless... there was nothing here at all was there?" Jason looked at the figures.

"Save it for later!" With that both of them threw their Keyblades into the air. In a flash they both transformed into some sort of aircrafts! The Djinn then let out a loud roar as breathed fire at us. The woman cast a Barrier spell to shield us from the flames while the Keyblades changed. "Terra. Take Jason."

The man, who we now knew as Terra, nodded. "Got it." He then dragged Jason onto some kind of small craft his Keyblade turned into looked like some kind of hover bike, making my cousin sit behind him.

Then the woman pulled me onto some platform with some ring that had jet wings hovering above it with her. Scrooge also scrambled onto the platform sitting in front of her and holding onto a spike. "Hold on tight," she told me before I wrapped my arms around her waist from behind her.

As we began to fly off the Unversed gave chase, hurling fireballs at us left and right. As it did, Terra and the woman steered out of the way to avoid them. However the Unversed was relentless in its efforts to hit us. "If this keeps up we won't be able to make it out of here in time." Terra warned us.

The two of them seemed to will their crafts to move faster, flying past rocks that were coming down all around us. "Watch out!" I warned as I saw another falling piece of debris, but the woman managed to avoid it in time. Terra then flew back around, spinning his aircraft around and doing damage to the Inferno Djinn. The one who carried me also turned around, lifting the top of her craft until... wait. It was a bow too? Pulling back, she fired mystical energy arrows at the Unversed, helping her friend do more damage to the monster.

My jaw dropped at this as the Unversed flinched from the attacks. However, the Djinn then roared with fury as its whole body started emitting flames, before it charged at us much faster. We all cried out as we were hit. I had to hold on tightly while the glider swerved a bit, though the woman managed to regain control of it. Terra did the same with his. "Is everyone okay?" He checked.

"Not really." I groaned. The woman then had to fly out of the way from another falling piece of the ceiling. But some of the smaller rocks did hit her and the glider, and for a second I thought we were going to fall.

"Aqua!" Terra called out, giving us the name of the woman.

"I'm fine!" she said as we tried to make our way towards the exit. However, the Unversed got ahead of us and blocked the way as the mountains of treasure erupted into flames.

I gasped at this. "Oh no!"

"This isn't good..." Scrooge gulped.

"This one's on you, Scrooge." Jason said. "If you hadn't-."

"Save it for later!" Terra snapped while we tried to figure a way out of this. The two fired again, hurting the Unversed and allowing us to zip by. However, it began throwing fireballs at us. Aqua had to have the glider dive down to avoid one that came straight at us while Terra flew upwards to avoid another. However, both of our gliders got hit, almost throwing me off the one I was on! I cried out as I nearly fell, but Aqua grabbed my wrist, pulling me back up.

Suddenly flaming pillars starting erupting from below us. "Watch out!" Terra warned.

I then quickly wrapped my arms around her waist from behind as I struggled to catch my breath. Aqua and Terra had their gliders speed up to try and avoid the flame pillars. She threw up another barrier to protect us while Terra did more spinning attacks. He managed to hit the Unversed a couple times, then flew forward again.

Then the Djinn sped toward the glider I was on and swipe its flaming claws. Aqua's barrier protected us but we ended up hitting a wall and the impact made me lose my grip again, and I started falling. I screamed as I managed to grab the back of the glider's...bow thing, but I was dangling helplessly. "CLAIR!" Jason yelled, his eyes widening.

Aqua gasped as she looked back at me.

"Hang on lass!" Scrooge called out.

I saw the Unversed reach for me, and my life flashed before my eyes. Then, with a cry, Jason leapt from Terra's glider onto the head of the Unversed! "Jason!"

"GO!" He yelled at us while he sliced at the monster.

"Jason?!" I gasped while more of the cave continued to come down around us. No. I wasn't going to lose my cousin. I refused to lose him!

I tried to leap after my cousin, but a hand grabbed me, "We can't go back for him."

"We can't leave him to face that thing alone! Please!" I begged Aqua.

"I'm sorry." With that, the gliders flew off. I looked back at Jason, watching him fight off the Inferno Djinn, with horror as the cave continued to crumble. We barely made it out just before mouth of the cave closed. I just stared as the cave closed up. I couldn't believe it... no… the tears swelled up in my eyes. No... Nonono! This can't be happening...

"JASON!"

"What happened down there?" Genie asked as Scrooge and I got off the gliders.

"We ran into trouble." Terra said. "We ran into Mortem, and he summoned an Unversed unlike any I had seen before."

"We have to go back for him!" I began digging in the sand. Gri, please. Don't let me lose my cousin! "He doesn't deserve to be buried alive or incinerated by that Unversed! All because he had to prove himself!"

I felt hands pull me back and the princess stared into my eyes. "Clair! We'll help him. I promise." Turning to the big blue guy she said, "Get Jason out of there."

As a response Genie transformed into a large drill with red and blue lights flaring with a shrill siren echoing around us. Diving down he drilled into the ground where the cave used to be. Please let my cousin be okay.

Turning to Terra, I asked, "What did Jason mean by unless there was nothing to find? And what were you two doing down there?"  
"Well, it wasn't so much as finding something as gaining something." Terra said. "We heard about someone with a Keyblade who was acting rashly, so Aqua and I decided to see if he was truly worthy. We were going to have him glimpse his past, and see if he would learn or attack."

"And how would that prove he was worthy?"

"His choice caused this to glow." Aladdin then pulled something out of a satchel. It was a small red gem that now glowed like there was a light inside it. "Because it did I know he wanted to make things right. I just hope Genie finds him."

"You mean we went into the cave for nothing?!" I couldn't believe it. I felt betrayed by people I had trusted. "How could you come up with something like this?"  
"Actually, it was my idea." Sora admitted. "I thought if he could prove he had a good heart he could-."  
"What? Could what?" I don't know why but I was feeling so angry. I wanted to lash out, hurt someone. At least that's how it felt if anything happened to Jason. I hope he was okay because I didn't want to do something terrible.

Genie then poofed in front of us, and his expression gave me the answer I had been dreading. "I'm sorry. I searched throughout the cave. There was no sign of him or the Unversed."

Clenching my fists, I turned to Scrooge. "This is all your fault!" As my Keyblade appeared in my hand, I leapt at him. "If you hadn't stolen the treasure, the cave wouldn't have collapsed and Jason would still be here!"

My attack was then blocked by Aqua, who said only one word to me. "Sleep." Then everything went black.

* * *

 **This ending was a little difficult but I wanted to show Clair in grief and pain, that her own darkness is going to start showing itself. Don't worry. Things will look up.**


	23. Bad call

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Braxton, Johri, Gracie, Eini, and all the others belong to Flautist4ever.**

 **Clair is mine**

* * *

Chapter 23: Bad call

JOHRI'S POV

I was so tired… and hungry… But I kept it to myself the best I could as we walked. This growth spurt was wreaking havoc on my body. I hadn't told anybody about that dream, but it still vexed me. Who was it that I spoke to shortly before I woke up? They didn't seem malicious, but causing a rapid growth was not natural. The voice had said this was a blessing, but what kind of blessing left someone feeling worse? It had spoken of dark times. Surely I would need a body I was used to to get by… wouldn't I? Or were the dark times so distant in the future that I would be accustomed to myself by then?

"Fiona! Ellionoire!" Braxton's voice interrupted my thoughts, "Don't fall too far behind, please." I looked back. Elli and Fi had fallen quite far behind.  
"Sorry Brax!" Elli called back, "We're trying!"

Braxton walked past me- I was nearly his height now!- and knelt in front of his youngest sisters, "We _have_ been walking for a while… Would you like me to carry one of you?"

That gave me an idea. I hadn't tested my strength since my growth spurt… I knelt beside Braxton and looked at him, "I can carry the other one, if you want."

"Are you sure?"

"If I get tired I can always set her down."

Braxton hesitated, but nodded, "I'll carry Elli, you can carry Fi."

I turned around so Fi could climb onto my back, "Hang on tight." She wrapped her arms around my neck and I put my arms under her legs and clasped them together in front of my chest. The extra weight made getting up a little difficult, but once I was walking, I found it was easy to keep going.

As we reached the shopping center I could see people everywhere, walking casually from store to store. My stomach growled as I smelled so many foods cooking at once in so many restaurants. Pakomi of all flavors, agiafruit soup with volcanic salt buns, strucrolon wafers, spice-stuffed river mollusk, gepeova bonbons and keelnut fudge dip... All of it smelled so good I started drooling.

"Eww!" Fi exclaimed from behind me, "I think I can walk now!"

"Oops!" I knelt to let her down, "Sorry about that." I cringed sheepishly as she wiped her arm on her clothes, "I guess I'm hungrier than I thought…"

"Do you think you're still growing?" Braxton asked. He seemed worried. If I grew much more, I would have to start ducking to fit through doors on the Station.

I shrugged, "No idea… I hope I don't get _much_ bigger if I am…" I felt a dry laugh coming up, "Huh… Never thought _I'd_ say _that_ …"

"Feel free to pick up any snack you want," Eini called from the front of the group.

"Won't that spoil her appetite?" Braxton's mom asked.

Eini shook her head, "The day before yesterday, she was _fourteen gutros shorter._ "

"You're kidding!"

"I almost wish she was," I replied, "I always wanted to be taller, but not this _fast_."

Braxton's parents exchanged a look before his mom sighed, "I suppose it would be nearly impossible to spoil your appetite right now, wouldn't it?"

I nodded, "At least, not for very long."

"Come on," Eini called to me, "You should pick out something before your stomach takes matters into its own hands."

"But my stomach doesn't have any hands." I joked.

Fi and Elli broke into giggles at that.

Eini grabbed my wrist, "Come on, it'll be easier to get stuff done if you're not distracting us with your loud stomach." She led me to the nearest clothes shop, which happened to have a vending machine outside of it, "We'll kill seven flies with one blow. Get something to eat and I'll start looking for something your size."

I ordered something out of the vending machine and Eini flicked her holo-screen to pay for it, "Thanks but I thought we were here getting stuff for lunch."

"We can do two things at once." The rich girl insisted as she got off her holo-screen. "Now, come on. Choose something and let's get shopping."

Gri's beak, she wasn't going to stop until we did this. I scarfed down my snack, "Alright. Let's get this over with."

"Don't sound so glum. Shopping is an adventure."

"Sure…" With that, the group of us walked inside the store.

"Alright!" Eini spoke up, "We'll meet up back here in an hour and everything's on me. I'm just sticking with Johri because she has no taste in fashion-"  
"HEY!"

Braxton put his hands on both of our shoulders, "And I'll stick with both of you so you don't completely tear up the store."

Feigning shock, our money supply asked, "Do you honestly think I would do something so barbaric?"

"You'd probably buy up their whole inventory."

"Touche." Holding up a hand, Eini vowed, "I solemnly swear that I will not buy out the store for the sake of buying it." With that she grabbed my wrist and dragged me down an aisle.

To make a long story short, we only found one outfit the three of us could agree on, and I ended up wearing it out of the store since the clothes I borrowed from Eini had been too small all day and I wanted an opportunity to breathe. The service droid had scanned me for my measurements, and then enhanced the outfit to better suit me for comfort and practicality. It was a simple jumpsuit with a lot of pockets. Eini and I compromised on a lavender color, and the one I picked out was a couple sizes larger than the one the service droid had picked out.

It was comfy. I hoped I didn't grow out of it the next day.

After Eini purchased the jumpsuit and I changed into it, we met up with the rest of Braxton's family. Was that all they had gathered? I wasn't sure if it would be enough to feed them, but they didn't seem to mind.

"Nice work, guys!" Eini exclaimed, "Where's the rest?"

Braxton put his hand on Eini's shoulder, "That's all they feel comfortable getting, Eini. You're really buying us too much. It's making us uncomfortable."

Eini seemed put out, "But… But you don't understand. I want to buy stuff! It can just be a one-time thing, if you're really that uncomfortable, but who knows how long what you have already will last? What's so wrong about letting me get you new stuff?"

"A lot of things," Braxton replied, "Namely that you're way too enthusiastic about it."

"And we don't need stuff to be happy." His father added. "They're nice, but at the end of the day they're just items."

"So what do you use to be happy?" Eini asked.

"You'll know when you see it." Braxton's mother smiled. "Sometimes the only way to learn something is to find the answer yourself."

* * *

EINI'S POV  
I felt the whole family's eyes on me, like they were waiting for me to have some profound realization.

As always, I guess I disappointed them, because I had no idea what they were talking about.

Braxton's father finally figured out I didn't get it and immediately took command, assigning tasks to everyone so we could load up all the purchases and go back to their home. I guess that's where Braxton got it from. Practice, too. Probably.

I put my sunglasses on and smiled as the sadness came back. I helped load up where I could, but I couldn't seem to stack anything right. I expected some passive-aggressive remarks to come my way for it, but instead, Lindsay and Braxton helped me pick up everything I dropped and showed me how to stack it properly. They even complimented me when I finally got it right on my own...

"Uh, has anyone seen Gracie?" Fi asked.

I looked around. She wasn't with the group. "Uh-oh…"

Eini facepalmed, "I knew there was a suspicious lack of breakage!"

Braxton stepped forward and took charge, "Looks like we're cutting this shopping trip short. Eini, if you want, you can purchase what we have, but we're heading back to my neighborhood as soon as the new Float Boat is here."

"But surely we can fit a few-"  
"We need to find Gracie as soon as possible. You know how she is, and this is Downtrod territory!" Braxton nearly grabbed Eini by the shoulders, "She's not safe alone!"

"He's right," Braxton's mom put a hand on her son's shoulder to calm him down a little, "Your friend won't be safe alone. Especially not if she finds her way into the wrong side of the neighborhood."

With a sigh, Eini gave in. "Fine, but next time I treat you, I treat you. No arguments. Deal?"

"Deal."  
At that moment, a large Float Boat pulled up. "And there it is." Eini smiled.  
We all piled in and Braxton directed the driver to his neighborhood. While we drove, we kept our eyes open for our missing friend, but she was nowhere to be seen. Where could she have gone? This was very disturbing indeed. That klutz was going to get herself abducted or hurt or worse!

Finally, we arrived outside Braxton's house. His family worked together to bring the food inside, while Brax got Eini and me to go looking for Gracie through the neighborhood.

The buildings around here were using the older brick material, but some of them were made of the anti-kaiju steel most buildings had adopted. There was lots of graffiti decorating the walls filled with remarks like "Yeller Sucks" and "Progress = Regress". I could see some people working to fix a broken window of an elderly couple though, and a couple of men who looked like gangsters were keeping watch at the entrance to an old museum like they were security guards. Despite the circumstances not being the best I could still see examples of people trying to help each other.

We turned a corner, and I heard a familiar cry of surprise, followed by a thud.

"DAMEAT! Gracie!" I turned to see Gracie had managed to bowl Braxton over and he was giving her a tight hug, "We've been looking for you for ages!"

"Mph! Brafxtin I cam't breave!"

"Oh, sorry!" Braxton released his hold on Gracie and helped her up, "Are you alright?"

"I was so scared!" Gracie replied, her voice seeming to go up an entire octave. That was jarring. She hugged Braxton as she explained, "I thought I saw a dog so I went to pet it but when I looked up you guys were gone and I didn't know where I was or where to go so I've been running around looking for you this whole time!"

"You're lucky you didn't run into any trouble." Braxton said. "Don't you know there have been reports of Downtrod activity in the area?"

Gracie paled, "R-really?"

"Yes."

"I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't know."

"It's okay. At least you're safe now."

It was at that moment we heard some ringing. My eyes widened as I realized it was coming from my pocket.

I picked it up and saw who was calling. I showed it to Braxton, "Should we pick it up here?"

Braxton shook his head, "We'll have to go somewhere private to pick it up. Call me crazy but I get the feeling we need to keep this on the down low."

"Why?" Eini blurted, "It's just a call."

"They were reported dead," Braxton replied.

"Well they're not," Eini retorted, "And we're trying to help them keep it that way, aren't we?"

"Yes," Braxton conceded, "But if Yeller told people they're dead, there's a reason why."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," Braxton pinched the bridge of his nose, "But something tells me letting the truth out will land us and them in more trouble, so we're going to keep this a secret. Understood?"

Eini crossed her arms and pouted, "Fine." She looked down, but I couldn't make out what she grumbled under her breath.

I looked around, "Is there anywhere we can go to answer this?"

Braxton's eyes widened, "I was going to say 'my house' but there's no way they won't pry."

"I might know a place." Gracie offered.

Braxton raised an eyebrow at that, "You don't exactly know the neighborhood, Gracie."

"I-uh- I think I saw a place not too long ago. It's a little alley that seems like nobody's there. There's a set of dumpsters we can hide behind."

"Gracie, that's Downtrod territory!" Braxton exclaimed.

"Where else can we answer the call?" Eini shrugged, "We can tell them to make it quick, can't we?"

Braxton frowned, and I thought I could hear his teeth grinding before he answered, "Fine. If she's calling today, it's probably an emergency. But we're not spending one second longer in Downtrod Territory than is _absolutely_ necessary."

"Agreed." With that we headed to the spot Gracie mentioned, earning some looks from some pedestrians. I noticed most of them were directed at Braxton. I shot him a look, raising my eyebrow.

He lowered his voice, "Nobody goes here unless they _have_ to or they're under Downtrod Protection."

I nodded. As far as anyone knew, we had no reason to be here, and we certainly weren't under Downtrod protection.

Finally we ducked behind the first dumpster and out of sight. I answered the call. "Hello? Clair?"

"Thank Gri you were available." She said. "Something terrible has happened!"

"What? What is it?"

I could hear her voice breaking, and it sounded like the words didn't want to leave her mouth. "J-Jason's d-d-dead."

One look at the others and I knew their blood had chilled just like mine. "Dead? How? What happened?"

"I-it's Scrooge's fault! We went into a cave full of treasure we were told not to touch but he did. And then the cave started collapsing, and Mortem summoned this Unversed monster-."  
"CLair. Take it easy." Gracie told her. "What's going on now?"  
"I woke up on the Gummi, and it sounds like we're heading to this castle with a beast. Guys? I really, really want to hurt Scrooge right now."

"Stop." Braxton said. "Just stop. Is that what Jason would want you to do?"  
"He once said I needed to look out for myself."  
"Did they even find a body?" I asked her.

I swear she paused on the other side. "... No, but-."

"But nothing." Braxton said. "Even if he is dead, which I refuse to believe, you shouldn't take revenge. If you do, you're no better than the Downtrod."

"Can you forgive someone for taking someone you loved away from you? Can you tell me you wouldn't be upset about losing family?"

Braxton was taken aback by that. I had never seen him look like that before, like he was trying to find the answer himself. Was it because he wanted to give an answer that would help her, or because he didn't want to be honest with how he really felt?

He eventually spoke again and said, "I think the best thing for you to do is keep your head down and find out what you can about this Castle Beast. Take no action until you can locate Jason's body."

* * *

 **I really need to get better at making sure the events of what's happening on Harthyn happens in the time of the character's events.**

 **Now comes the fun part: Writing a story in Beast's Castle after the events of the movie. I say after the movie because during the credits for Kingdom Hearts II you can see Belle dancing with her prince (who I believe is named Adam), and he's human again. Conclusion: The curse was broken after Sora and co. left, so that means we must assume Gaston played his role as in the movie, without the role of the Heartless or the Nobodies. Which is a pity because I was so looking forward to writing the characters.**

 **Originally I was going to have this call take place after the events of Neverland, but that didn't happen.**


	24. Pain and Enlightenment

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Braxton, Johri, Eini, and Gracie belong to Flautist4ever. Special thanks for writing the bit at the end.**

 **And special thanks to TheGoodandtheBadXBoy and AquaStormfall for helping RP this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Pain and Enlightenment

JASON'S POV

Falling through the darkness. That was the first thing I was aware of. It was cool and wet like water, but I couldn't see an inch in front of my face. How did I get here? Wait. I remember facing that Unversed, and then large rocks fell on top of us. Did I die? Is that where I was? The other side? I then felt my feet touch down on something, but I couldn't see anything. Just more blackness. What? I looked around but couldn't see anything.

When I took a step, there was a flash, and I saw I was standing on some sort of stained-glass pillar. Whoa. I remember this place! I was here before, not long before I first faced Mortem!

With the light illuminating the place, I took a step forward while I looked down at the stain-glass. Now that I've been out and about, I realized the figure below me was Terra, his Keyblade dividing the image of his sleeping self from one that had white hair and a dark background. Must've been something related to his journey.

"What an extraordinary place." A voice said on my shoulder, making me jump a bit before I remembered who it was.

"Jiminy? What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I was still on your shoulder when we went into the Cave of Wonders." Jiminy explained.

"I thought you would've left when I fought the Inferno Djinn." I told him.

"Nope. Right now I'm serving as your conscience, so in good conscience I cannot abandon you when things get rough." The cricket said.

"Even when the cave came crashing down on us?"

"Even then."  
I then took a look down at the image of Terra and his evil looking twin to the side. "Jiminy? Do you know anything about this? Why are there two Terras?"

Taking a breath, Jiminy began to explain. "Well, I don't know all the details, but from what I remember Terra was training to be a Keyblade Master, but failed his test. He was manipulated by Xehanort into becoming one of his vessels. We only found out about a year ago that this had happened to him."

"This takes identity theft to a whole new level." I said as I looked around. "Why would I be back here?"

"So you've been here before?"

"Shortly before I fought Mortem for the first time. I thought it was a dream, but if you're here, then this has to be real."

"A logical assumption." A new voice said. Turning, I saw a figure dressed in golden armor with intricate designs and a magnificent white cape. He had a helm shaped like a lion's head, almost reminiscent of the masks on the stained glass. Something about him felt familiar too, though for some reason I felt uncomfortable in his presence.

Taking a step back, I asked, "Who are you?"

"I have many names across many worlds. However, you may call me Maslih."

Raising an eyebrow at this 'Maslih', I asked, "Where am I?"

"The best name is the Dive to the Heart, a place for heroes to awaken their power." Maslih explained as he gestured to the Keyblade bearer on the stained glass. "Terra had to travel a dark path to learn the lessons of the light. Just as Mortem has to, and you may have to."

That made no sense. "You mean I might end up with a horrible fate?"

"You might not. Those who have made a difference in the struggle of light and darkness are remembered here."

I recognized his voice from my last visit, though I didn't see Maslih then. "Why am I back? Am I dead?"

"No. As the Inferno Djinn perished I summoned you back."

"Why?"

"So you may reevaluate yourself."

Reevaluate myself? What? Then I remembered what happened the last time I was here. The three weapons I was asked to choose from. No sooner had I thought that than they appeared floating above their pedestals.

"Choose." Maslih said.

I hesitated at this, but started to approach the three items. My eyes fell on the sword first. I sensed great power coming from it... First I was hesitant because of the doubts about not understanding what the true meaning of power was and the experiences from past Axel.

But I found myself walking straight for the sword. When I touched the blade, images of people I recognized as Riku and Terra appeared in front of me, as well as the words from before entering my mind. " _The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction."_

"Is this the form you choose?" The armored figure asked me.

I hesitated for a moment, contemplating about the sword and what to answer. Last time I did choose the sword, but should I choose it again? Especially now I knew what I thought was strength was wrong? "Yes." I answered.

The sword then vanished from my hand in a flash of light before I turned around to the other weapons. Now to decide which one to give up. I just hope I made the right choice. Last time I had gotten rid of the shield, but now... I then walked to the staff. Picking it up, I wondered what would've happened if I had chosen the staff or the shield. _"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin."_ the voice said.

"Will you give that up?" the figure then asked me.

"I'm not good with magic, so yes." The staff then vanished from my hand as well, leaving only the shield atop of one of the pedestals.

"You have chosen the power of the warrior... and you have given up the power of the mystic. Is this what you seek?"

Taking a breath, I gave my answer. "Yes."

"Then let us continue." With a wave of his hand a door appeared. I was surprised by that, but before I could ask about it I stopped myself. Maybe now wasn't the best time to be asking questions. Walking towards the door, I watched as it opened with a blinding light forcing me to cover my eyes.

I just kept going, though I did say to Jiminy, "Last time, the strangest thing happened when I passed through. I found myself back on Harthyn, but everyone I saw just asked me questions."

"Oh?"

I nodded. "They really didn't make sense to me..." I said to him. Was I about to experience the same thing again? The light began to die down as I saw where I had ended up at next. "Whoa. This wasn't where I ended up last time." I was standing on solid ground, yet it looked more like the sky, and any direction I looked I saw more sky and more clouds. It was so beautiful.

My conscience whistled from my shoulder. "As I live and breathe."

What is this place?

"This place is a final point, where no one can go on unless their time in the mortal realm has come to an end." Maslih said as he appeared next to me. "In a way, this is the Final World."

The Final World? Looking at him, I asked, "Wait. Does that mean Jiminy and I are-?"

"No. Remember I saved you before that happened."

"Then why are we here?"

Maslih looked at me before he gave me a question. "How do you feel now?"

"Peaceful. Happy. Like everything I ever worried about is gone."

"Then you can understand what it means to live in the light."

That made me raise an eyebrow.

"But you still don't understand. Your past is trying to teach a lesson you need for your future." To my surprise, a sword-like Keyblade, with a guard made of two copies of Sora's Keyblade, formed in one of his hands while a shield appeared in another.

"What the-." I took a step back.

"You've proven you're capable of selflessness, but your quest is still beginning."

Without me summoning it my Keyblade appeared in my hand, earning a surprise glance from me. "Whoa, hold on. Are we really going to fight?" I had a bad feeling about this.

"You will have to face difficult challenges. How you face them is up to you." With that he came at me. Eyes widening, I held up my Keyblade to block the incoming attack. However, the next thing I knew I was lying on my back. I didn't see Maslih swing his weapon or anything. I got the impression that Maslih was powerful, but now I knew I was out of my league.

Looking around, I saw Maslih was back waiting instead of standing over me to finish the fight. Why would he do that instead of finishing me off? I wanted to be upset, but I found I couldn't. It was like someone put a filter up for negative emotions. "You could've beaten me."

"And what makes you think you were not?"

Staying on guard just in case, I got the impression I wouldn't be able to lift a finger against him before I'd get knocked down. Deep down, I just knew that this was a fight I could not win. Letting my weapon slide from my hand, I gave two words I never thought would come from me: "I surrender."

"You surrender?" he repeated.

I nodded. "Yes..."

With a smile, he dismissed his Keyblade. "You passed."

"Huh?"

"True strength isn't found in winning fights. It's knowing when to fight, and when not to. You have shown that you can learn to pick your fights, to know when to end a conflict and when you must fight. Your knowledge isn't complete, but if you choose to continue you can learn."

"So I can go back to my cousin? My friends? Back to life?"

"You never died. But now it is time for you to return to life. Just remember you'll find the answer and your purpose in what your rival did then that you did not, and what your foe does now that you do not realize you do."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I tried to bury my head under my pillow, but it did nothing to smother my pain. Jason... my cousin was gone… why him? And I can't forget that it was the stupid, greedy, old duck that took him from me. The thought of making him hurt was filling my heart and soul. Was the only way out to go through with this? And why didn't I tell Braxton and the others about this?

I will never forgive him for what he did. It was his fault Jason was gone, and he would pay even if I had to do it myself. When I confronted him after waking him he couldn't even answer if our lives were more important than some stupid yellow coins. Who places more value in money instead of the lives of others?

"Clair?" I heard Aqua come in. I tried to squeeze myself further into the corner of the wall my bed was against in a vain effort to not be seen. Some pressure on the corner of my bed told me that was not working as she evidently took a seat. "Clair, please. Don't be like this. Please just look at me."

"No." I refused. "You're going to try to convince me to let this go, when my cousin's killer is piloting this ship! If it wasn't for him grabbing that treasure, he'd still be here! He _knew_ we couldn't touch the treasure!" I said, still keeping my back to her as I laid on my bed.

I heard my senior sigh out. "Clair, I know you're right that he messed up, but-."

"He's the one we should've left behind, not Jason! He should've paid the price for his greed! My cousin did nothing wrong!" I yelled at her.

"That doesn't excuse giving in to the darkness! It will destroy you if you do that! The darkness doesn't play favorites! If you give in to your pain and anger, you will have to pay the price just like you're demanding of Scrooge!"

That look in her eyes threw her off, but I felt like I could pay the price if it meant making Scrooge suffer. Because of him, Jason would never see his mother again. Never see Harthyn again. Why shouldn't I be the one to make him face justice for that? Just thinking about it made me did my fingers into my pillow.

"Clair, this isn't what you want. Your cousin saved all of us. His sacrifice will be in vain if you give in to the darkness."

Looking over at her, I snapped, "And how do you know that? You know nothing about us!" What I saw shocked me. I thought she was mad, but her face was a mixture of emotions. Worry. Sadness. Fear. In her eyes were stern concern, and it looked like someone who was seeing the past repeat itself. Specifically something in her past. It was almost like the tears that were forming up were because I was forcing her to relive something she wanted to forget about.

The Keyblade Master looked down for a moment before she gave me her response. "It happened to my friends, and I couldn't save them. I don't want to see someone else suffer the way they suffered, the way I suffered. Maybe I don't know you two, but I believe that deep down you know what you want is wrong." Looking out the window, she then got up. "We've arrived.

* * *

Beast's Castle...

We then began entering a town which looked to be getting its day started. The place looked so old, but beautiful, with vines creeping up the sides of some of the buildings. The people we came across were friendly enough. Some waved at us and said hello, though I noticed many gave Aqua strange looks.

"So that's what Merlin meant by helping you two blend in." Aqua's words made me look at my new outfit. I was in some sort of red top with short sleeves, and underneath that was a white shirt with sleeves that reached to my elbows. I was also wearing a blue dress with a white apron and brown slip-on shoes. It was different, but it seemed to help me blend in apart from my skin.

"Yeah. Merlin says it's to help us avoid unnecessary attention to ourselves, and now I see why." I felt myself slightly embarrassed with Aqua sticking to her normal fashion. She must've noticed too because I noticed she was trying to act casual.

"Shall we go?"

"Please."

We barely took a few steps before we heard someone cry out, "Not these confounded Heartless again!"

We then ran in the opposite direction that the people ran from, coming across a carriage where a portly man dressed in brown and a scrawny man dressed in yellow were surrounded by lots of Shadows. Standing in front of them was a handsome man in his twenties with brown hair tied in a ponytail and a blue coat. Something about his clothes made me think he was an official. "Lumiere, Cogsworth. Make sure the people are safe. I'll deal with the Heartless."

"But, Your Highness!" The portly man said.

"Go!" The noble drew a sword and glared at the Heartless.

As one leapt at him, Aqua fired a spell and destroyed it. As he looked at us, the three of us ran up and readied our weapons. "Don't worry. We're here to help." Aqua told him.

I counted about four of the Shadows, three of the Soldiers, and two of some purple dog Heartless with red spiked collars. Summoning my Keyblade, I prepared myself for a fight. Thinking about the Keyblade I got from Neverland, I decided to equip it and changed my weapon to the Pixie Harp. Maybe it would be good if I took my anger out on these things instead.

The Shadows then leapt at us, but Aqua and Scrooge knocked them back with their skills and expertise. Even the noble got in a few fancy jabs before it returned to the darkness. The three remaining Shadows fell back before the Soldiers came forward slicing at us with their claws. They all came at me, earning a gasp before I was rescued by Aqua and the noble.

The noble impaled one with his sword before swinging it around and bashing it against the side of a building before driving the blade in deeper. It vanished, releasing the crystalline heart it held captive. Aqua then cast a spell I recognized as Aero around her before striking the Soldier with her weapon. However the last one managed to slice me across my body, making me cry out in pain.

Gritting my teeth, I knocked the Soldier back with a Thunder spell. It twitched and sparked for a bit before I cast the spell again, but this time it seemed stronger than what I remembered. That managed to finish it off, while Aqua called out to me, "Nice work with the Thundara spell."

As I watched her, she cast the strongest ice spell, Blizzaga, on a Shadow, freezing it before she shattered it. Scrooge then began parrying blows with one of the dogs, and the thought to hit him with my magic while pretending I was aiming for the Heartless came into my mind. However, before I could, the last of the dogs tackled me, sinking its fangs into my arm.

With a cry of pain, I jammed my Keyblade into its side, forcing it to release me. However, it ran around and came back at me only for a sword and a Keyblade to come down on it at the same time. "Nicely done." The noble praised her.

"You two." She said as a second wave of Heartless appeared. This time it was five of the dog things and four of these strange bats with hooks. Immediately some of the dogs came at me, one managing to sink its teeth into my leg while I managed to knock the other back. Some of the bats came by and attacked me too.

"Unhand her, you stumpy hound!" Scrooge whacked it with his cane before it turned its attention to him. Casting the Aero spell around me to remove the bats, I watched as he struck the dog several more times before it vanished back into darkness. He shot a smile at me, to which I gave a glare in return before turning to the Heartless. "Uh, lass? They seem to be taking an interest in you."  
I couldn't argue with that. The Heartless seemed to be focusing on me, but it didn't make me feel better. I could feel something surging inside of me. It seemed to be fueled by my anger, my pain, and before I realized it, a wave of magic shot out blasting the Heartless back. Then, as if it was on autopilot, I turned to face Scrooge, and I prepared for another attack.

"Clair!" Aqua called out, though she sounded faint and far away. "Clair, it's over. The Heartless are gone."

Her words were enough to snap me out of it. Taking a breath, I felt the surge die down while I dismissed my Keyblade. Turning to face the Keyblade master, I noticed her eyes were full of concern. "What?"

Before she could answer, the two from before came back. "Oh, my. Your Highness. Are you unharmed?"

"I'm fine, Cogsworth." The noble said.

"You showed those creatures, your Highness!" the other one with an accent praised. I think his name was Lumiere.

"I didn't do it alone." The noble gestured to us.

"Hm? Ah, hello there. I don't believe we have seen you around, before." one of them, Cogsworth, said.

"My name is Aqua. This is Clair Fay and Scrooge McDuck." Aqua introduced us.

"Perchance, you wouldn't happen to be related to a certain Donald, would you?" Cogsworth asked the elderly duck.

"He's my nephew." Scrooge said.

"I can see a resemblance." Lumiere smiled. Wasn't that hard considering they were both ducks.

"Then are you friends of Sora?" The noble asked us.

"Yeah." Aqua said. "Why?"

"Because Sora, Donald and Goofy helped our prince and the kingdom twice now." The one called Lumiere said.

I did a double take. This guy was a prince?!

"Oh, really?" I gasped out.

Aqua was surprised as well. "Oh!" she quickly bowed. I didn't know why, but I followed her example. I didn't recall acting this formal around Jasmine in Agrabah, so why was I trying to follow etiquette now?

"Please, rise." The prince said. "There's no need for you to bow."

While I got to my feet, Aqua seemed unsure. "But-."

"No questions. Just rise." The prince helped her to her feet.

"I've got it. Master, how about we invite them back to the castle?" Lumiere suggested. "I'm sure Belle would love to meet them."

"Excellent idea Lumiere." The prince agreed.

I did a double take. For real?! We were being invited to a castle?

* * *

As we traveled in the coach, though how we all fit in I do not know, Lumiere and Cogsworth explained to us how they knew Sora and his friends when this man called Xaldin tried to corrupt the heart of the prince to become a Heartless and a Nobody. It was thanks to Sora and the others that they prevented this from happening. Now it makes sense why they were acting like we were friends. I guess this meant Sora's friends were my friends too.

"Now that's a castle." Scrooge said as he looked out the carriage window. Taking a look out the window, I could see a stone structure through the trees. It was made of white stone and had tall towers that looked like they were trying to pierce the sky. I swear a great deal of the windows were stained glass.

It was so beautiful to look at, and for a moment I was able to forget what happened to Jason. It was like my worries and frustrations had faded away, and for some reason I felt like Jason was still here as we passed through the gates.

As the carriage pulled up to the main entrance, we were let out just in time to see someone step out of the huge front doors. It was a woman with brown hair in a ponytail tied with a blue ribbon. She had a blue dress on with a white shirt underneath and an apron.

As we approached, the Prince smiled. "Belle." He said as the two embraced each other.

"Hello, Adam." She smiled back as she returned the embrace with a kiss. I noticed they both had a ring on their fourth finger, which would explain why they were passionate. "And who are you?" Belle asked when she saw us.

"This is Scrooge McDuck, Aqua, and Clair Fay." Adam explained before looking around. Once he was sure Lumiere and Cogsworth weren't in earshot he added, "They come from another world like Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

That surprised me. "You two know about other worlds?"

Adam nodded in reply.

"How?" I inquired.

"Best said in private." Adam said while some other servants came out to unload the carriage. As we were led in the castle, I was amazed at the exquisite architecture. It looked like this place cost a fortune to build. I could see statues of what I assumed were great heroes and fair maidens, of angels and holy clerics standing true.

Aqua looked around as well. "This place... its quite beautiful..."

"Indeed it is, lass..." Scrooge said.

"My ancestors spared no expense in building this castle." Adam explained as we walked. "It has withstood invasions and wars. There are many stories within these walls." As we passed through the halls lined with suits of armor and fine polished floors, we entered a room that made my jaw drop. The place was filled with books that had pages! Taking one off the table, I enjoyed the feeling of paper in my hands.

Smiling, I said, "I feel like I'm in heaven." I noticed the book was open to a page showing an illustration of a woman crying over the body of a monster, which I thought was strange. Wait. There was something familiar about that woman. I couldn't see her face, but I felt like I saw her before.

"You love books, don't you?" Belle asked as she looked at what I held in my hands.

"Yeah. Where I'm from, I'm lucky to find even one book. Now, I feel like I could spend eternity reading everything here."

As Adam locked the doors, Belle said. "We can speak freely here. No one will disturb us."

"So, how did you come to know about other worlds?" Scrooge asked.

Adam's face fell. "It was a few years ago. Belle had been staying at the castle for two months when the Heartless showed up. Belle was taken by a witch called Maleficent."

Aqua gasped at that. "Maleficent's alive?"

I was about to ask about her when I remembered. Merlin and Aerith spoke of her in unpleasant tones, and she sounded like the stuff of nightmares. She used to be a fairy, but had fallen to dark magic and become the most feared witch everywhere. I remember when I first learned about her…

* * *

Radiant Garden

Four months ago…

With a groan, I tried to block the light that was shining down from above. That was when everything came back to me. The shaking, the hole! Sitting up, I found myself lying on a cot in some sort of stone house with mountains of books piled up everywhere. I hated them being on the floor like that, but I was ecstatic to see so many books with pages. I was in heaven.

"Oh. You're awake." A voice said. Turning, I saw a beautiful woman applying balm to some bandages. "Just rest there. You've had a nasty tumble."

A groan next to me told me Jason was coming to. Before I could do anything, he sat up with a start. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're in the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee Headquarters." The woman said. "My name is Aerith. Do you remember your names?"

"I'm Jason, and I demand you send me back to the Yeller Research Station now!" My cousin then began to get up, but then a rod pointed itself at him.

"Young man, you have just been ripped through the Lanes Between in an unprecedented manner, without protection or equipment. Sending you back in this condition would be as suicidal as facing Mount Vesuvius when she blew her top." An old man with an extremely long beard said.

Frowning, my cousin knocked the stick away. "I don't know what you're talking about, but you'd better send me back this worbazz second now before I- ow!" Grabbing his head, Jason fell backwards into his cot.

"If you get up, you'll be doing more harm than good to yourself." The woman, Aerith, said as she began changing his bandages.

Looking around, I asked, "Where are we? How could we have survived falling through Harthyn's atmosphere?"

Looking at the old man, Aerith said, "I'm afraid you didn't fall through your atmosphere. You fell through a hole to another world."

"You mean we're on another planet?!" Jason sat up again. "That's impossible!"

"She didn't say another planet. She said another world." The old man corrected him.

Raising an eyebrow, my cousin asked, "What's the difference?"

"Well, a planet is often considered part of a world. It just requires lots of fuel to travel the great distance to get there. A world is a separate existence, a plane with its own rules and history different from yours. Often the only way to travel there is through magic."

"Like what you sensed before we found them, Merlin?" Aerith asked while giving us the name of this old man.

"Exactly. A powerful surge of magic that appears to have shaken all worlds. A phenomenon that has never occurred before."

With a groan, my cousin said, "This is all fascinating professor, but how do I get back home?"

"Right now, in your condition, that's not a possibility." He said as if it was an accepted fact.

"What?" The two of us asked in shock.

Shaking his head, Jason said, "Unacceptable. I'm going home, and I'm going now!"

As he struggled to get up, I held my head as I felt shocked at the news. I had to get home to Mom and Dad. By now the entire station must've thought we burned up in the atmosphere, and when my parents hear this… it broke my heart to think of them crying over the loss of their only child. How I wish I could go to them, let them know I was okay and reassure them.

Hearing Jason struggle and try to fight the people who were trying to help us, I could feel the pain and frustration flare up. "Stop, Jason!" I snapped at him, only for the strangest thing to happen. He just froze like someone had hit the pause button on their holo-screen. "What happened? Did I do that?"

"By Jove." Merlin said. "My dear, have you always been able to cast magic?"

"Magic? What's magic?" I asked. "Like what some of the old books speak of?"

"Yes." Right as Merlin said that, Jason unpaused and yelled something before he looked around. "Ah, right on cue."

Looking around, Jason asked, "What happened?"

"I just used magic." I said while looking at my hands.

"Used what?"

"Young man, magic is a force that operates in many worlds, for good and ill." Merlin told him. "From the way you talk I would assume that you two come from a world that has no magic, which in of itself is unusual."  
"Then how did I pause Jason?" I asked. "What spell was that?"

"The Stop spell. It temporarily freezes time around an opponent." Aerith explained as she finished changing my bandages. "Merlin, do you think the force that brought them here might've given them access to magic?"

Nodding while stroking his beard, he answered, "Yes, I think that's entirely possible. I will have to speak with Yen Sid about it though."  
"Can this Yancy get us home?" Jason asked.

Frowning, I said, "Keep that up and I may freeze you again."

"No, you mustn't make light of this." Merlin scolded me. "If you let your anger guide you in magic, it will turn dark."  
"There's dark magic too?" I asked.

Nodding, Aerith explained, "Like many things, magic can be used for good and evil purposes. While Merlin and I both use magic for good, there are people like Maleficent who will use it for evil."

"Who's Mally-efficient?" Jason asked.

Shaking his head, the old man corrected him, "Maleficent is one of the most dangerous beings in the universe. She used to belong to a race known as the fay, or fairies as most call them. However she fell into dark magic and became a witch. Now she exists as one of the most dangerous beings in all creation."

"How bad can this woman be?"

"Bad. She has destroyed countless worlds in the past for her goals of domination and power."

That made me shiver. "You know, my last name is Fay."

Both of them looked at me. "That's interesting." The old man noted. "Maybe that's a reason why you can use magic after being exposed for a short time." Before I could ask, he said, "We will do what we can to get you two home, but it may take some time. For now, you must rest and recover your strength."

* * *

Present day…

"You faced her before?" Scrooge asked.

"A long time ago, but last I saw she was barely standing." The Keyblade Master explained.

"Guess she must've recovered." I said.

Nodding, Belle continued, "Almost as soon as I was taken, our world was destroyed by the Heartless."

I swear my heart skipped a beat. "She destroyed... your world?"

"Yes, but not long after that Sora and his friends defeated her and Ansem, I mean the Heartless of Xehanort who took the name of his master Ansem the Wise, at least that's what they told us the last time they were here. Anyway, after they were defeated our world and several others were restored. And that was how we became friends."

As I processed all this, something I forgot about came back to me. "If you were abducted, that must mean you're one of the Princesses of Heart. I heard Maleficent kidnapped all seven to try and open the door to Kingdom Hearts."

With a nod, Belle confirmed, "Yes, I am."

"Gri's beak." I swore, earning a look from Aqua. "I'm afraid you're in danger."

"Danger? From what?" Adam asked.

"There's a dark warrior called Mortem who's going around stealing the hearts." Scrooge explained.

Nodding, Aqua added, "He's captured one heart already, and there's no telling which heart he'll try to steal next."

The couple looked at each other. "If he thinks he can come into my castle and take my wife's heart, he's mistaken." Prince Adam vowed.

"Don't underestimate him," warned Aqua, "I've fought with him myself, and he is quite strong with his darkness and Keyblade. Not to mention he's capable of summoning creatures called Unversed from his own negative emotions."

"Unversed?" Belle echoed.

Nodding, the old duck added, "Like she said, he's a force to be reckoned with. He recently took one of our own."

I glared at Scrooge when he said that. He noticed my expression and looked away ashamed. However, Aqua then promised, "We'll do whatever we can to help protect Belle."

Looking down, I began to wonder if we could really stop Mortem. If we did, would I have closure with what happened to Jason? My heart ached upon remembering what happened. I don't know anymore. I already broke my promise to Aerith and Merlin that I wouldn't use my magic in anger when they started teaching me.

"And to help with that, I will personally oversee the training of Clair."

Aqua's words made me do a double take. "What?"

"I'm going to help teach you." She clarified.

"Why?"  
"To make sure you're ready. I won't have someone go into battle unprepared again. Not after what happened."

I had a feeling I didn't want to know.

* * *

BRAXTON'S POV

After everything we'd learned, it was hard to walk at the pace we needed to. The walk was quiet; we couldn't talk about Clair's news, and I could tell the others were wondering if Jason's death meant we had failed.

I told them, before we left the area behind the dumpsters, that until his body was recovered, we couldn't make assumptions either way. After all, this wasn't the first time we'd been told Jason was dead. And even if he really _was_ dead, Clair wasn't, so we still needed to do everything in our power to get her back alive.

But I could tell everyone was concerned that, if something out there had killed Jason, Clair could be next, and we were stuck planetside for an entire day, forced to keep our mission a secret.

We trudged up the steps to my house, and I opened the door.

"We found her!" I called as we piled into the house.

I looked up and saw my family staring at us and realized we still looked shaken.

"Where was she?" Mom asked, walking up to Gracie with a concerned look on her face. I could tell she already had an idea where we'd found her.

"... Downtrod territory," I confirmed.

Mom frowned, "I'm glad you were able to get home safely." She turned to me, "Did you run into any trouble?"

"The Downtrod left us alone." I offered.

Mom raised an eyebrow at me and turned to my friends, "Well… We saved a portion for you, and an extra one for you, Johri." She turned to me, "Unfortunately, we ran out of dollberry pie by the time I wrapped up your portion. I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay," I assured her, "Thanks, Mom."

Mom looked back at me, her expression sad and scared. "I just want to make sure you're alright."

She knew. At least, she knew I was lying and hiding things from her. I could see it in the way she looked at my youngest siblings. She wanted them to have a good example to look up to, and whenever her eyes faced down I knew she was wishing Kenneth was still here. Kenneth would know what to do. Kenneth was a good big brother. _Kenneth didn't keep secrets._

It hurt. I wanted to do right by everyone, but… If I told them… If one of the younger ones let it slip… They'd be targets. Of Yeller. Of the Downtrod... That's why I couldn't tell them. So they would be safe.

Well… Safe… er...

* * *

 **I didn't mean to make this chapter this long. It was just how it ended up working out. I couldn't find a good breakaway point. What I'm trying to work here is giving Clair some more depth and personality by having her stay so upset over the "loss" of Jason, to make her more susceptible to temptation.**

 **I have some ideas as to how the next chapter's going to go. For now, just know that it won't be much longer until Jason returns. For now, I do need some help. I've kinda forgotten where Clair is with her spells, as in I forgot which ones I revealed she can use and if there at the -ara or -aga levels. If anyone can clarify please send a message and I'll update my notes accordingly.**


	25. The Beast Within

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Special thanks to AquaStormfall, TheGoodandTheBadXBoy, and YamiChaos27 for helping write this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 25: The Beast Within

CLAIR'S POV

With a gasp I dodged a swing from Aqua's Keyblade. "Come on. You know the spell to block enemy attacks." The Keyblade Master told me as she came at me again. "You can do it."

"Wind." I cast the Aero spell to put a funnel of wind around me for defense. However, I still felt the blow of her Keyblade against me.

"That's a good one, but Reflect does a better job of keeping you safe than Aero. Use the wind to protect yourself while attacking enemies."

With a nod, I got myself ready while she rushed at me. "Protect!" I cast the Reflect spell as several transparent prisms appeared around me. However, Aqua stopped before her attack collided, and my spell faded.

"Good, but you cast it too soon. Timing can make the difference in battle. Try it again." As we took our places again, I held my Keyblade up and prepared to cast the spell as Aqua came at me again with her Keyblade. Wait for it… wait… gah! I ended up getting knocked back by her attack. "Too long that time."

"I noticed." I frowned as we took our positions again. How was I supposed to time it just right to avoid taking damage? It felt like it was going to be a long training session. "Prote- ah!" I cast the spell too late again. I felt my anger flare up as I felt the fire spell forming in my hand.

"No, Clair." Water flew from Aqua's hand and extinguished the spell in my hand. "You can't let yourself be ruled by anger. It will only bring you pain and drive away those you care about."

"I know, I know." I was still upset over losing my cousin, but even learning magic didn't seem to help with that. Before it used to be fun. Now it was feeling more like a burden, like something I had to learn or I'd flunk the grade.

Dismissing her weapon, the Keyblade Master said, "I think that's enough with Protect right now. Let's move on to Magnet."

"That's the spell that pulls things towards you, right?"

"Yes. You can attract inanimate objects or opponents with it. It's useful for closing the gap between opponents on your terms. I've hidden a series of balls throughout the garden. Try to use the spell to find all five of them."

Nodding, I took a look around. The gardens we were in were huge, with hedge mazes here and there. Finely trimmed trees dotted the corners and paths, and there was at least one other fountain on the other side from where we were at. Finding five balls wasn't going to be easy, but at least it felt like something I could do.

I took a deep breath before I gave it a try. Holding out my Keyblade, I began to concentrate on my magic. " _Make the balls come to you. Make the balls come to you._ " I told myself in my head before I cast the spell. "Magnet." I waited but only one ball came out. It circled around the orb as I sighed. Just one?

"Good job." Aqua praised though I felt like she was just trying to make me feel better. Before I could say anything, some other metallic items around the garden began to shake as my spell began to reach them. Eyes widening at what was about to happen, I tried to release the spell. However, I wasn't fast enough, and I had to duck from some gardening tools that came flying my way. My dive to safety did cause the spell to stop, though I was still shaken by my close call.

"It's okay." Aqua still instructed me. "Get a feel for it. Try to focus your thoughts on what you want to attract." Even when I didn't get something right she still encouraged me to do better. She's very different from what I expected Keyblade Masters to be.

Following her instructions, I concentrated on four more balls like the one I got. Just the balls, just the balls. "Magnet." The magnetic orb appeared in front of me just like before, and I could feel the spell tugging on something in the garden. Finally, a ball dislodged itself from one of the trees and came towards me. Two down, three to go. Then a ball appeared from one of the fountains and joined the others.

With a sigh I had to release the spell, but it was still impressive that I was able to get two balls that time. Maybe I could find the rest of the balls if I moved to another corner of the garden, so I turned to Aqua to suggest it. "If you concentrate you can pull items in without having to move." She told me. Wow. Could she read my mind?

Well, may as well give it a try. Casting the spell again, I focused my effort to reach every corner of the gardens. One of the balls then came out of a hedge with some difficulty. The last one, however, was the hardest- whoa. There was a kid holding onto that ball, and a dog was barking in confusion! Releasing the spell, I ran over to the kid. "Are you okay?"  
"That was great." He smiled.

Aqua walked over to check as well.

"Um... thank you?" I blinked. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were holding onto it..."

"I thought I could play with it, but it's too heavy."

"It _is_ made of metal, so..." I trailed off.

"What's your name?" Aqua asked

"Chip."

"It's nice to meet you, Chip." she smiled.

"My name is Clair Fay." I introduced myself. "And this is Master Aqua."

"What were you doing?" Chip asked while the dog licked him

"Training."

"What kind of training?"

"Magic."

That made him smile. "Wow. Cool!" His reaction made Aqua smile a bit. "Can you change me into a beast?"

That made me raise an eyebrow. "Why would we do that?"

"I wanted to be one since the Enchantress came."

Aqua and I looked at each other with confused looks. "Who?"

"Chip." Looking over we saw Belle approaching. "There you are. Your mother was looking for you. You might want to find her before she gets worried."

"Okay." With that, Chip and the dog ran off.

Turning to us, Belle told us, "I'm sorry if he bothered you. Chip can be a little inquisitive."

"No, it's fine." My teacher told her. "It's good that children are curious about everything."

"What was this about an Enchantress?" I asked

"It's a recent story that was written in this very castle." Belle smiled as she sat down on a bench, and I realized she had the book from before in her hand. "If you'd like you could read it."

"I guess a break wouldn't hurt." Aqua acquiesced.

As I took a seat next to Belle, I accepted the book to her and opened to the first page only to find the words made no sense. "What language is this? I can't read it."

"It's written in French, which you speak perfectly." The princess told me.

I rose an eyebrow. "French? I hear Hocamli." Then I remembered. "Oh, right. The Universal Tongue."

"Pardon?" Belle asked.

"It's how people who travel to other worlds communicate." Aqua explained. "It allows us to know what each other is saying while hearing our native languages."

With a smile, Belle said, "I guess it kind of defeats the purpose of traveling to another world if you can't understand what anyone is saying."

"So, what exactly is the story?"

Smiling, Belle began to read. "Once upon a time, there lived a prince who had everything his heart desired..."

* * *

As I laid in my bed that night, I thought about my training. It was working out so well under Master Aqua's guidance, and it felt good to learn new spells again. Sure, I had a bit of trouble here and there, but at least I had some help from Aqua. How I wish Mom could be here to see me. Would I be able to use magic if I went back to Harthyn? The thought of possibly being able to did make me feel a bit happier. I couldn't wait to see her again, but then... I'd have to explain to Aunt Joan why Jason wasn't with me.

"Clair?" The voice made me sit up. There was this mysterious green light, but somehow my mother was standing by the door!

"Mom?" I gasped in surprise. How was she here?! I then ran over to her. "I'm so happy to see you." Every other thought left my mind. All I cared about was being with my mother again.

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

As I made my way into the castle, I thought about what Leroy had reported when he spied on the castle. So the one called Aqua was here, training the girl in the ways of magic? Well, that was just great. Nabbing the Princess's heart was definitely not gonna be easy with her around. On the other hand though, with Jason missing, more likely dead if I'm being honest with myself, she was gonna have to do when it comes to having a real fight, assuming Clair is still afraid of a fight. If she was, she wouldn't last five seconds against me. Clair has potential, I've seen that first hand. But what good is that when she's too afraid to live up to it?

"Let's dispose of everyone now." Leroy grinned.

I frowned at the red furball for saying that. I didn't feel like striking someone down who was still mourning the loss of a friend. "Patience," I said, "Rushing may not end in our favor." As he grumbled I added, "Aqua is here too, and last time it didn't go so well when I had to face her and her companion." As I made my way into the castle, I heard voices coming from a room to my right.

"Curse me kilts. Are you sure about that?" It was that old duck Scrooge. Peeking through the crack in the door, I saw the duck and the Keyblade master in there with the princess and her prince.

With a nod, Aqua added, "Merlin was worried when he heard what her surname was, but I find it hard that someone like Clair could share the same name as Morgan."

I couldn't help but raise my eyebrow. What does a stupid surname got to do with anything, let alone be something to worry about? I've heard of two people with same name and it was little more than a coincidence. It couldn't possibly be that serious. What was even her surname again?

"Clair Fay, connected to Morgan le Fay." Scrooge sighed. "I hope it's just a coincidence."

"So do I. According to my books, Morgan le Fay was one of the most feared sorceresses who ever lived." The princess began to explain. "It was because of her that King Arthur and Camelot fell."

"I think we're overreacting." The prince said. "We can't judge her because of her name."

"I've seen her anger at me, lad. I don't know what she's capable of." The old duck warned. "And you can bet your fortune that dark forces will undoubtedly come for her if she is indeed related to the old witch."

The prince shook his head. "I'm just saying we shouldn't judge what we're seeing. I had to learn the hard way to judge someone by their heart."

"Let's just hope she isn't, and that we're simply overreacting..." Aqua said with a sigh. "But... I do see your point, your highness. We should... do you sense that?"

I sensed something. Turning, I saw a green light coming from up the stairs. Ducking back into the shadows, I watched as the others burst out of the room and looked up the stairs.

"That light! Maleficent's here!" The prince realized.

Aqua gasped, her eyes widening in horror. "Oh no."

"Maleficent?! The evil hag is here?!" Scrooge gasped.

Then, a ball of green light appeared down the stairs, and following it was the girl herself. The orb reminded me of a wisp, though I didn't know where that name or comparison came from. And I could sense a person in the orb, like it was transformed from someone else. Someone evil. Undoubtedly Maleficent.

"Clair! Get away from that!" Scrooge called out, but she acted like she didn't hear him. Everyone scrambled after her frantically while I rose an eyebrow.

"Clair! Stop! Get away from it!" Aqua yelled as they ran.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but part of me wanted to see how this played out. Another part, however, told me I wasn't gonna like what came next. Clair followed the light into the large doors at the top of the stairs, with the others following behind her. Passing through the shadows, I beat them inside. Summoning my keyblade, I pointed it at the green wisp. What was I doing? Was I just preparing for whatever's about to happen, or intervening? Why should I care about whatever this wisp is doing to her?

It was then the others burst in. "Get away from her!" Scrooge then ran to attack the wisp, but got blasted back by a green flame from the wisp.

"Scrooge?" For a moment, Clair seemed to snap out of it.

"Don't listen to him, dear. Remember he took the life of your cousin. He deserves to die. Use your powers and end his life!" The voice came from the wisp, and hearing it made me want to rush and strike it down, though I did not know why.

"Clair, don't." Aqua said as she called her Keyblade.

"See, daughter? They will fear you and kill you too. Strike them down now. Your mother commands you."

Her Keyblade appeared in her hand, but to my surprise she struck the wisp. "You aren't my mother! She'd never tell me to do something like that!"

There was a scream, and for a moment I saw someone in a black robe. However, a pillar of green flames erupted and she was gone. The kid then fell to her knees, gasping with wide eyes.

I stared in surprise at this. What just happened...?

Aqua ran to her side, kneeling down to check on her. "Clair, are you alright?"

I hid myself behind a pillar before anyone could spot me. Too curious to what just happened to act just yet.

"What... what happened? Last thing I remembered was being in my room, and then my Mom was there."

"You were bewitched by Maleficent."

"Maleficent? That evil witch you told me about?"

"Yes, Clair." Aqua said.

"She must've made you think she was your mother for her evil schemes." Scrooge said, which caused her eyes to widen in horror.

It figure this stupid girl would fall for this. How weak minded could she get? Leroy blew a big raspberry, alerting them to our presence. Glaring at him, I silently told him that I wanted to kill him for this.

The Keyblade Master then called forth her Keyblade. "Who's there?"

Well, no use hiding now. I snapped my fingers and filled the room with Unversed. Floods, Scrappers, and Bruisers appeared, though there were a few new ones. Some resembled the Scrappers, but in huge boots that only allowed their heads to be exposed. Others resemble green plants with red eyes and three leaves at the top.

"Mortem!" Clair's eyes then began to glow fiercely and her hair started to fly around her head. I also sensed the darkness in her heart shooting up, undoubtedly her anger they were so worried about.

I walked out from behind the pillar. "You know, Clair, that was just pathetic. Falling for a trap like that? You continue to disappoint me."

"I'll show you a disappointment!" She shot a blast of magic at me, stronger than I anticipated. It did wipe out some of the Floods I had conjured.

I deflected the magic with my Keyblade. "Are you angry, girl?" I decided to egg her on. "You look like you've got a lot of fury that you need to let out!"

"You took Jason from me!" She snarled, "He was lost in the Cave of Wonders because he stayed to fight the Unversed you created. Aunt Joan will never see him again because of you! You left a mother childless!"

My eyes narrowed. "I wasn't the one who started that cave in, and you know it."

"You created the thing that did!" She then got attacked by some of the Bruisers and Scrappers, but as they piled up she blasted them off with her magic, which was starting to take a darker shade. "I'm going to rip your black heart out and make you eat it!" I was starting to hear some distortion in her voice.

Readying my Keyblade, I prepared for a fight. "Then come at me with that rage of yours!" With a cry she sped forward at me with a speed I did not anticipate. I threw my weapon up to block her as fast as I could. I found myself locking Keyblades with her, with her pushing back with impressive strength. "Not bad." I admitted before letting out my own darkness, halting her movements. "But rage is my forte!" I then shoved her away before launching a few Dark Firagas.

To my surprise she opened her mouth and sucked them in. It was like she was now absorbing magic for herself. Leroy rolled forward to attack her, but a series of icicles broke out of the ballroom floor and knocked the furball back. He cried out as he was forced back, but then bands of dark magic appeared around him, imprisoning him.

She then rushed at me again, but I managed to block her attack. We clashed several time. She swung with unbridled fury. I was able to keep up with her thanks to my own. I couldn't help but smirk that for once she's proving to be a challenge, although I could tell she was barely in control of herself. Her darkness was beginning to become more prominent. Soon an idea came into my head, something I had yet to try but was told was possible. But first, let's see if I can raise that anger one more notch. I kicked her away. "Come on, weakling! Is that all you got!" I then charged up my Keyblade and launched a Darkness Wave at her.

As expected, she began absorbing my attack. "I'll show you what I've got!" With a roar she blew my attack right back at me, but I managed to leap over it. As I landed, I held my weapon up to stop her. As we locked blades again, I could see that she was getting stronger and stronger. I was probably pushing my luck here, but the results should be worth it. "I'll admit, your fury is stronger than I ever would've expected. But you lack focus!" I pushed her back before I started going on the offensive with her. "And because of that, your wrath never defeat mine!"

She snarled at me in response, and she worked at pushing me back. It was like she lost all sense of reason, that her powers had taken complete control of her. One last time that we locked blades is when I decided now was the time to carry out my idea. I generated an orb of darkness in my free hand before shoving it directly into her chest, which sent her flying across the room. I stood there and watched her struggling to get up, holding her chest in pain.

"Clair!" Blasting the Unversed back, Aqua ran over to her. Falling to her knees as soon as she got there, she held the younger woman in her arms. "Clair! Clair!" Belle quickly ran over to her as well.

"You scoundrel!" Scrooge frowned as he and the prince held up cane and sword. "What did you do to that lass?!"

"Her wrath is quite impressive," I told them. "I just couldn't help but wonder: Can I use my power over the Unversed to turn that rage against her? Let's find out, shall we?" I held out my palm towards Clair and she let out a cry as a pillar of darkness erupting from her body. A formless shadow emerge before taking shape in front of them, and as it manifested itself it took on a lupine body. It had primarily green fur with a gold around its neck and tail. The Unversed sigil emblazoned its forehead. Dark wisps emitted from its paws and razor toothed mouth, and static sparked from several spikes on its fur. Its red eyes gazed at its prey as it let out a roar. "Now, let's see how you deal with the Fury Hunter!"

It turned and leapt at the girl and the Keyblade Master, but since the princess was with them, she was in danger too. However, then, something crazy happened. A pillar of light then appeared as the Fury Hunter leapt at them, and I saw a blade slice across its snout. "I can't leave you alone at all, can I?" A familiar voice said as the light died down, and we were all shocked to see Jason Norman standing there.

Upon seeing him, the crazed look in the girl's eyes died down and her hair stopped floating. "Jason? You're alive?"

"You counted me out from that? Thanks a lot."

"Y... You're alive." she repeated with shock, tears forming in her eyes.

I, on the other hand, couldn't help but smirk at this unexpected turn of events. "Well, look who just keeps on surprising me."

Turning to me, he said, "Well, don't be surprised when we pin you down this time." As he called forth his Keyblade, one of the roses that had been part of the decorations flew towards his weapon and equipped itself to the Keychain, changing it in a flash of light. It transformed into a purple blade covered with thorny vines, that had a pair of stained glass bars for the guard, and a rose forming the teeth.

He blinked as he examined it, testing it out in his hand. "Let's see what this thing can do." He said as he held it up.

"Let's." I agreed. The Fury Hunter could deal with the others.

"Jason, let me-." She started.

"No. You handle the Unversed. I can handle Mortem." I told her.

The girl looked over to the giant wolf and gasped with fright, as though she just noticed it for the first time.

I couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. "You sure about that? This Unversed is different from the ones I've created before. I didn't create it from my own emotions, I created it from your cousin's." I saw him stiffen at that. "This Fury Hunter is a manifestation of the rage she displayed tonight. Do you really think she can take on her own darkness?"

That bit of information took him by surprise. He looked back and forth, as if trying to wrap his head around the idea that this thing came from her own anger. I may as well have told him something that changed his entire viewpoint of the world. Turning back to me, he hardened his expression. "I escaped death. She can handle an overgrown pup even if it is made from her emotions."

"You think this is a joke?"

Pointing his Keyblade at me, his eyes told his grim determination to beat me. "I don't have a sense of humor!" With that, he rushed at me though the wolf tried to clamp its jaws over him.

"No. Them, you stupid mutt!" I forced the Unversed to focus on the girl and the master while I blocked a blow from Jason. He swung at me again, testifying that he preferred not to use magic in combat. After a few clashes, I kicked him back before launching a Dark Blizzaga at him. Successfully blocking it with his Keyblade he then came at me again. I swung at him with my blade, forcing him to dodge. Firing another Dark Blizzaga at him, I watched as he dodged it again before dashing to me again. As we locked blades, I grinned at him. "I'm actually glad you survived! Now I can have a worthwhile fight again!"

Pushing him away, I transformed Vengeful Chaos into its Death Scythe mode and went on the offensive. I swung repeatedly at Jason, trying to get him to activate his power. "Well? Show me the strength you showed before, before I kill you and destroy everyone in this castle in retaliation!"

With a growl, he said, "No you will not. I refuse to fall by your hand, and I will not let you kill anyone!" As he rushed at me, the Keyblade in his hand changed again just like before. Now it appeared to be a mighty battle axe, with rose petals for the blade, which appeared rougher with the claw marks along the edges. The handle appeared to be a stem of thorn, yet he managed to avoid cutting himself. Grasping it in his hands, he glared at me still ready to fight.

I chuckled at this. "Yes, that's it! Make me feel alive!" I swung my scythe, launching an energy wave at him. Swinging his weapon he managed to cut through my attack, and that surprised me a bit. I then pointed my scythe at him, and fired an electric beam. Throwing up his axe to defend, it ended up absorbing my attack. Swinging his blade he forced me to leap back to avoid getting hit. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leroy had gotten free and was attacking the prince and Scrooge while the Keyblade master and the pathetic girl fought the Fury Hunter.

I then had to focus on my opponent again as he swung his weapon again. I blocked the axe, but I was struggling to keep it steady. This attack was stronger than I expected. I found myself having to redirect it onto the ground next to me. When his axe slammed into the ground, a seismic shockwave traveled along the ground in a linear path, leave a trail that erupted with light.

Somehow seeing the power it had only invigorated me as I adjusted my grip on my scythe. "You really are strong, Jason! It's a shame you waste this strength protecting the weak!" I pulled my scythe back while charging electric energy. "Reaper Storm!" I leapt at him while spin my scythe and creating an electric whirlwind.

That managed to hit him. As the attack lifted him up he cried out at being electrocuted and buffeted by wind at the same time before he crashed into the ground. As he got back to his feet, he glared at me. "What else am I supposed to do with it? Live for myself? News flash: I tried that and almost got myself killed! Piercing Rush!" He slammed the axe down and the attack from before made contact.

I was sent crashing into a wall. "Than you just need more power! Power is everything!" I transformed my scythe into its Dark Bazooka mode. "Only the strong survive!" Why was something in the back of my mind doubting what was coming out of my mouth? Regardless, I began firing at him. He tried to deflect my attacks, but then some of my blasts made contact. As he grunted from this, I charged up my ultimate attack. "Chaos Cannon!"

The attack flew from my cannon and made direct contact with him, creating an explosion. I chuckled thinking I had bested him, but to my surprise when the smoke cleared, he was now holding a rose-shaped shield with a cannon in the middle, and it was charging up as the glowing petals seemed to indicate. First the big outer petals, then the middle, and then the core. "Right back at you. Glimmering Torpedo!"

"What?" I asked as I tried to block his attack. However, the bright blast that came from his weapon hit me at full strength, and I was sent flying backwards where I crashed against the wall.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

As Aqua, Scrooge, Adam, and I stood our ground, I couldn't believe this situation. I was nearly taken advantage of by a witch, and then my anger created this monster? Leroy had been defeated by the Keyblade master, but this thing still had lots of energy left. The Fury Hunter let out a roar as sparks of electricity began to form around it. "Protect!" Aqua cast the spell around all of us before the attack could fire. While her shield kept us safe, the Hunter spat out an orb of lightning which collided with the barrier. It then erupted into an electrical storm that shocked all of us despite the barrier.

Once the storm had died down. Aqua ceased her barrier and fired a blizzard spell at the Hunter. It hit, but that didn't stop the monster from charging towards us. The giant wolf then tried to chomp down on her, but Aqua managed to stick her Keyblade into its mouth, holding it open with its length. She held onto it as the Hunter flung her around, trying to remove the Keyblade.

"Aqua!" Seeing her like that, struggling against something that came from me, I had to make this right. If I didn't it was only a matter of time before she lost her grip or it managed to sink its fangs into her. Pointing my Keyblade at the Fury Hunter, I then got an idea and focus my spell on Aqua instead. "Magnet!" The orb appeared in front of me, and I pushed all of my will into it. " _Pull Aqua to safety_!" After a few seconds of concentration, Aqua's Keyblade dislodged from the monster's mouth and she was pulled toward the orb. Unfortunately I misjudged how much will I put into the spell and Aqua ended up crashing into Scrooge and I.

After shaking its head, the Fury Hunter looked at us with what I was sure was loathing. While wincing from the impact, I shuddered at the look it had. It then spat out an orb of lightning at us. "Prot-aaaahhh!" We all ended up getting shocked by the attack. I yelled in pain as I felt the electricity zap us.

The Hunter then leapt in front of us before raising one paw and swiping its claws. The three of us were knocked back by the attack. As I struggled to get up, I then saw the Unversed standing over me. I could feel it holding all my anger, my rage from before, inside that thing. Was the universe trying to tell me I was going to have to defeat this thing to make up for my outburst?

I stared at it, gripping my Keyblade. I was so scared. But I couldn't back down. If this thing came from me then I had to be the one to destroy it. As it opened up its jaws to eat me, I thought fast and launched a fire spell right into its mouth. It swallowed the spell, but it wasn't enough to destroy it. Then the creature snarled in pain, and I saw Jason's Keyblade sticking out of its leg. "What are you doing?" I called out.

"Giving you motivation!" My cousin said.

"Jason, no amount of-."

"Shut it. You made that thing, you can unmake it!" As the Keyblade appeared back in his hand, he leapt back to avoid a swipe from the claws. "Try combining your spells if you don't feel they're strong enough! But hurry!"

Static crackled all over the Fury Hunter as it charged up for an attack. Looking over at the Keyblade master, I asked, "Is it possible to combine spells?"

"Yes!" She told me.

"So do it!" Scrooge said. "I believe in ya, lass."

I looked at the two, then back at the Unversed. Sparks began to form around its body again, indicating it was going to attack again. Now or never. Channeling my energy, I prepared to cast Aero and Fire at the same time. With a cry, I shot it at the monster. "Blazing Whirwind!" A spiral of flames blazed into the Hunter. It started to writhe in pain, and the electric sparks ceased.

"Now!" Before I knew what was happening something threw me into the air and I found myself flying towards the Unversed. Lifting my Keyblade up, and letting out a war cry of my people, I plunged it through the Unversed sigil in its canine skull, and once I pulled it out, darkness began seeping from the wound, and soon the Fury Hunter itself faded way. The darkness lingered for a moment. A fraction of it seemed to split off from the rest and went away from us, but the rest then flew into me, I felt an agonizing pain in my chest as it did.

Clutching my chest, I felt myself grimacing at the sensation. "Agh!" I couldn't help but scream in pain as that happened. It was horrible! I was sure I was going to die! I felt myself fall to my knees through the ordeal, though that was more tolerable than what I was going through right now!

"Curaga!" Aqua shouted as a soothing green light surrounded me. The spell made me feel better and took away the pain, but it was still shocking to have felt that. Was that how Mortem felt whenever we defeated an Unversed? Now I found myself feeling sorry that he had to go through this every time we destroyed one of those monsters.

"Are you okay?" my cousin asked.

I panted, slowly looking up at him. "How can you think we're okay after this?" I asked. "You're back, but... I was responsible for that monster because I blamed everyone else for what happened to you. This is my fault!"

"Clair, don't say that." He shook his head.

"But it is!"

"You were distressed by your loss," said Aqua. "We cannot blame you for that."

Belle then rejoined us, taking her husband by the arm. "Aqua's right. You can't blame yourself for being human. What you did was what anyone else would've done."

"You were right to be angry at me though," said Scrooge with guilt. "It never would've happened in the first place were it not for my...addiction. You see, when I was a lad, I only wanted money to help my folks. But then I lost my focus, and for years my family distanced themselves from me. I pushed them away because of my greed. Don't push others away because you're ashamed, because loneliness is just as terrible as poverty."

Nodding in agreement, the prince said, "Yes. It's a terrible thing to be alone. If it wasn't for Belle, I'd be living alone now."

"The story from before. The one with the maid and the beast. That was his story wasn't it? And you're the maid who saw past his looks, aren't you?" I asked the princess.

"What story?" Jason blinked.

The prince and Belle exchanged a look. "It was." Belle confirmed. "I am the maid who helped a beast become a prince."

Before anything else could happen a series of Unversed appeared. They were like the Bruisers, but they had some sort of armor plating around their bellies and had shields on their hands. We were ready to fight, but then I suddenly felt a massive weight crash onto me that pinned me to the ground. And once I looked, it appeared I wasn't the only one. I could see Jason, Aqua, Scrooge, and Adam struggling against their captors.

I looked up at Belle and gasped at who was standing right behind her. "Belle, behind you!"

Just as she turned to see, it was too late. Mortem held his glowing tipped Keyblade in front of her chest, and she stiffened in response and her chest started glowing. "Let your guard down for a second and you fail." He said to us as he pulled out that strange locket from before.

"Belle!" Several of us gasped.

"No!" Adam yelled

Struggling against his captor, Jason growled at Mortem. "You grubock!" But we could only watch as the heart flew into one of the empty slots in the locket while the comatose body of the princess fell to the floor.

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

As soon at the heart entered the locket, I clutched my head in pain as my mind was swimming with memories. This one seemed to pick up where the last one left off. I found myself in my hometown again. I was on my knees on the ground, panting from exhaustion. Right next to me was the same knife my father had used to try to kill me. I looked around to see that the whole place was deserted, several houses were noticeably damaged. The only moving things I saw were the Heartless. At least I was sure they were Heartless, but there something different about them. I saw the typical Shadows and Soldiers, but what stood out was their ominous red aura and magenta eyes.

"Pitiful fools," I heard a voice. I turn to see...some lady, much of her was a complete blur to me. From the staff she carried, I assumed she was some kind of sorceress. "You'd think they'd know better than to rouse the wrath of a demon." She seemed to be inspecting me. "Your darkness is quite strong for one so young. Perhaps you could be of some use to me." She then held out her hand to me. "How about you come with me? I can give you a much more suitable home." I remember feeling relieved, almost thankful perhaps. For once, someone wasn't trying to hurt or kill me. The fact she was offering me a home, somewhere to belong. Needless to say, I took her hand.

My vision shifted to a group of people. Like the sorceress, everyone was too much of a blur for me to make anything out. I don't remember any names. I don't remember what kind group I became a part, or what their goals were. I remember this one member telling me, "You know what the funnest part about being strong is? The weak are always at your mercy." I remember being trained to fight. In fact, I remember I didn't always have Keyblade, instead just greatsword that was forged from my heart's darkness, a greatsword that bore a very close resemblance to my Vengeful Chaos.

I remember after a few years I was sent on missions that involved ravaging towns and other worlds. At first I enjoyed them, it was a way to take out my rage on the world for the living hell I was put through. However, after a while, attacking weak bystanders didn't satisfy anymore, and I just felt...empty inside. All I wanted was to fill that emptiness, and the only way I knew how, was to fight stronger opponents. I ignored the weak, and pursued the ones who could put up a fight.

I remember one time I was so desperate for the sustenance I desired that I shouted out to one of the towns I took part in invading, "Is there no one strong enough to challenge me!? Is there no one who could give me a real fight?! No one to make me feel alive?!" As it happens, that was what drew the attention of a formidable foe. A man with a Keyblade confronted me. And to present me's shock, the man looked just like Terra! However, I could tell he was much older, and even had a beard. I wanted to say that maybe he was a relative of his, but I could shake this odd feeling in my heart that told me that this was indeed Terra but at the same time it wasn't. What did this mean? Regardless, he turned out to be way out of my league and creamed me, forcing me to retreat much to my frustration. I guess that's why I was so on edge with Terra back in Agrabah.

My last vision had me running through some kind of cavern. Apparently a valuable target had been located. A target that had been evading the group I was working with for years, that if left alone would eventually become their single greatest threat. And meanwhile my only thought was "This better be worth the effort." I wanted this target to put up a fight, but not be out of my league like that older Terra. And when I reached the end of the cavern, I saw her. It was a girl about the same age I was at the time, fifteen if I recall correctly. She had silver hair, a purple dress, and held a lavender Keyblade. She was even accompanied by some flying rabbit creature. And when she turned to me, present me mentally gasped. It was her! It was the girl that kept flashing in my mind whenever I looked at Kairi! Her facial resemblance to Kairi was uncanny. I even remember her light feeling so similar to that of a Princess of Heart. But that couldn't possibly be right, as I saw the pictures of all the current Princesses, and none of them were her. What the heck is going on here!? Who is this girl!? And why does present me feel a sense of...longing for her, despite the fact that this memory suggests that she was supposed to be my enemy!? Heck why does the idea of her being my enemy fill me with so much regret!? I fought against her. It wasn't a one sided battle like with the older Terra. I remember getting quite the thrill from battling her, just like Jason has been lately. I still lost, but I was left with a craving for a rematch with her.

And with that, my memories ended. However, unlike the last batch of recovered memories where it was quite clear what had happened, this batch just left me with more questions than answers. This was all so confusing, and it frustrated me to no end.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

Once the heart flew into the locket, Mortem grabbed his head in pain, I assumed it was another round of him regaining his memories. Once again I had to feel sorry for him, all the pain he's enduring just to regain his memories. Soon the pain seemed to stop, I was expecting him to lash out like he did last time, but instead he looked...more confused than anything, as if whatever he remembered had left him with more questions than answers. The frustration was evident on his face.

He took a couple steps back. Turning to us, he said, "Thanks for the workout, Jason. You keep surprising me, unlike some people." His eyes fell upon me. "You're pathetic. Letting yourself get tricked by a witch, and then letting your emotions get the better of you? I don't see why people think you're connected to this Morgan le Fay, but you're no threat. I'm half-tempted to put you out of your misery myself."

I clenched my fist.

"Don't you dare!" Jason snapped.

The dark warrior then turned to him. "Let me ask you something. Why do you bother helping those who cannot help themselves? You have proven to be so strong that you wouldn't need them. The weak are nothing but worthless trash who are always at the mercy of the strong, and may as well be dead. If you're not strong, then what are you? And so what could helping them possible accomplish?"

"I don't know." Jason admitted. "It just... feels right. Like I'm giving them something I didn't have."

"Is that so?" Mortem said. "How pathetic! All you're doing is holding yourself down, stopping yourself from reaching your full potential. Only the strong survive. Defending the weak will only get you killed one day."

"Not today, though."

Scoffing, Mortem turned and motioned for Leroy to come. As soon as he did they opened a dark portal. Something about what he said irked me, and I couldn't stay silent. "What about Penny? What about the Lost Boys? You defended them didn't you? If you really believed that the strong shouldn't defend the weak, you wouldn't have bothered!"

That seemed to make him pause for a moment, his fists clenched. I half expected him to lash out, but he just glanced at me and said, "Don't test me." And with that, Mortem and Leroy entered the portal. And as soon as he did, all the Unversed vanished.

As soon as we were free, Adam hurried over to his wife's side. "Belle." As he held her, I couldn't help but look away in shame. It was my fault she was like this. If I hadn't lost control, they could've focused more on keeping her safe.

A hand was held out to me. "Come on, Clair." Jason said as he helped me up. Turning to Adam, my cousin said, "I'm sorry about your wife. I promise we'll get her heart back."

"I know you will." The prince looked at us. "When she was taken the first time, I believed I would find her again, and I did. I believe now that you will be able to get Belle's heart back to her."

* * *

I wish we could've left that world on a much happier note, but that was a vain and foolish wish. Nothing can change the fact that I screwed up big time, and now Mortem has two hearts of light. If he got the other five who knows what would happen to the worlds.

I thought about what had happened. When I saw him in the ballroom, it was like my mind had been switched off. All I could recall was feeling nothing but anger and rage during that time before it had been ripped from my heart. To think that something so powerful, and so dangerous came from my own heart.

What if the others were right? What if somehow I was connected to this Morgan le Fay, whoever that was? Did that mean I could be a threat to the worlds? To my family? Shivering even though my room was warm, I knew that was something I couldn't allow to happen. But what could I do to prevent it?

Summoning my Keyblade to my hand, I thought about its power. It could unlock people's hearts, and any door in existence. But, could it also work in reverse? Yes, if I was remembering what I was told correctly it could also lock hearts and doors. Then, I pray to Gri that what I'm about to do will work.

Thinking of all my anger, sadness, and every negative emotion I ever felt, I summoned my Keyblade, and pointed the tip towards my heart. As I had it float in front of me I concentrated on a single thought that I wanted it to do: " _Lock away my bad feelings. Never let me feel those things again._ "

As the light shot out from my weapon and into my chest, I grunted in pain as I felt my rage and pain struggling against my Keyblade's magic. Finally, I heard a clicking sound and then bliss. I no longer felt sad or ashamed. I looked up as I heard a knock on my door. "Clair? Are you okay?"

"Don't worry. I've never felt better."

* * *

 **And now Mortem has two hearts of light. For more info regarding his latest memory regaining, be sure to check out YamiChaos27's story Cosmos Crusaders. It will help put things into perspective.**

 **As for Maleficent, I took inspiration from the scene in _Sleeping Beauty_ where she lured Aurora to the spinning wheel so her curse could be fulfilled. Thankfully things ended better here, but this won't be the last they hear of Maleficent. **


	26. Shopping Revelation

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Gracie, Johri, Braxton, Eini, and Armon all belong to Flautist4ever. Special thanks to helping to write out this big segment.**

 **Special thanks to TheGoodandtheBadXBoy, AquaStormfall, and YamiChaos27 for helping RP the last bit.**

* * *

Chapter 26: Shopping Revelations

Harthyn...

GRACIE'S POV

Morning could not come soon enough. After a quick breakfast with Braxton's family we said our goodbyes and headed out to return to the upper levels. I was eager to get back to my mission of spying on Yeller, but I had to keep this role up for now. I was sure HQ would want me to make sure I didn't lose any information regarding other worlds that Clair and Jason might leak to me.

No sooner had we gotten into the back of the new FloatBoat than Eini got a call on her Holoscreen. She rolled her eyes when she saw who it was, but looked back at us, "Guess I gotta take this one. Sorry."

She took the call and two red, bloated faces popped up on the Holoscreen.

"ROSABELLA MADELINE KRISTA!" The man roared.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE GROUND?!" The woman cut in with a screech.

Eini rolled her eyes and leaned back, mouthing 'blah blah blah' as her parents ranted.

"And spending _money_ in the _lower levels?!_ "

"And ordering _my_ contractors for renovation estimates?!"

Eini was silent as her parents noticed she wasn't alone.  
"Rosie," Her father's voice was murderous, "We talked to you about hanging out with _that kind of trash._ "

For the first time, Eini stiffened. She put on her sunglasses, waited a second, and replied in the same tone as her father, " _These_ ," she gestured to the others, "are some of the other crew members in the program _you_ paid a massive bribe to put me in, _father_. You know, the ones you hoped would rub off on me and make me appreciate the life _you_ gave me?" She leaned back with a massive shrug and her voice went back to normal, "I don't see the problem."

"The problem is," Her mother retorted, "That the lot of you are on the ground, wasting _our_ money and _our_ resources in the _lower levels_." Her mother wrinkled her nose in disgust, "How could you be so _stupid?_ We paid for _better_ than this!"

Eini didn't respond. I felt a pang of empathy for her.

" _Answer your mother, Rosabella."_ her father ordered.

"Why does it matter?" Eini's voice wavered, "Just tell me what you've decided to take away this time." How could she be so flippant about this?

"Kiss your assets goodbye." Eini's mom hissed, "No more shopping, no more connections, no more _anything_ on _our_ money until _you_ learn your place and start _meeting_ your expectations." Eini's mom sucked in a quick breath, her face red as Toran's saliva, "And I'm _cancelling_ the work orders you put in. Pull another stunt like this again, and you can forget any plans you might have had for being the Ashburnham-Krista heiress."

With that, her parents hung up. Everyone stared at Eini for a moment. Eini just stared at the air where her parents' faces had been. It looked like we'd have to find alternate arrangements for the night, and Johri hadn't even gotten her tools, yet.

After a moment, she called the driver, "Bullock, I'm just letting you know there will be a change of payment. Eini Atrisk will be paying for your services from here on out, not Rosabella Ashburnham-Krista."

Braxton stared at her in shock, "Eini… What was that?"

Eini shrugged, "They like to pretend they care. I don't." She looked at him, "Oh, but let's pretend that didn't happen, shall we?"

Braxton gaped, "But… How can you be-"  
"It's all good! We're gooooood." Eini brought up insta-statements from a variety of banks and shoved them in Braxton's face, "I'm good! We don't have to worry about a thing!"

Braxton gaped at the numbers, but stuck his hand through the projection, "I'm worried about _you._ "

"Why?" Eini scoffed, "Just another day of being related to _those two_."

"That doesn't make it better," Braxton told her firmly. He narrowed his eyes and softened his voice, "They shouldn't talk to you like that."

"Yeah," Johri finally spoke up, "That was _harsh._ "

"Whatever. We're almost at the mall." Eini relaxed in her seat.

"Eini, why didn't you tell them why we're down here?" Braxton asked.

"You didn't tell _your_ parents why we're down here."

"Well, not _all_ of it, but _sti-_ "

"They have an encrypted holo-call connection to Yeller himself." Eini interrupted flatly, "If they _wanted_ to know, they'd know."

That shut Braxton up.

Eini perked up as the float boat came to a halt, "Hey, we're here!"

Without waiting for the others, she pressed a button and the force field around the top dissipated and she hopped over the side. However, as we got out, our means of communicating with our friends went off earning shocked looks from all of us. Motioning for Bullock to drive on, we then moved into a side alley before answering.

"Clair, I-I… Gri's beak!" My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw who was with her.

Waving at us, Jason said, "How are you?"

"We're doing much better now that we know you're alive again!" I said in my sickly-sweet Gracie voice.

"What happened?" Braxton asked.

"I… I'm not sure. All I can say is I didn't die." With a sigh, he added, "I'm afraid I don't have good news. Mortem got another heart."

That wasn't good. "Was it at this Castle Beast?"

"Yeah. We're currently heading back to Radiant Garden for more training, because I discovered something that put me higher up on Mortem's priority list." He said. "Evidently these things can transform into other weapons. Now that I learned how to do it, Mortem wants to fight me every time we cross paths."

We all exchanged a look.  
"Can you take any measures to avoid him?" Johri asked.

"Can a wall stop a kaiju?" Jason asked. "Call me crazy, but I think the two of us are meant to cross paths. I don't know how to explain it, but something inside just says I need to face him."

"Then be careful," Braxton advised, "We're glad you're alive. Do your best to stay that way. We have to go. We're still Planetside and there's no easy way to hide here."

"Okay. We'll try to keep contact to a minimum." With that the two of them hung up.

With that, we left the alleyway and looked around. I'd heard the stories of the opulence Netokan's wealthy lived in, but this… I wasn't prepared.

You could tell who had been born wealthy and who was dinero fortuna; those who had been born into wealth wore what looked like rags but had several robot butlers following them, carrying the piles of things they had bought. Those who were new to it were taking pictures by the triple-sided pyramid on their holoscreens and dressed like they were about to be crowned into nobility.

Luckily for us, Eini was easy enough to spot. She was standing by a titanium statue of Trask Netokan, talking to someone I couldn't remember seeing before. They were tall, lanky except for some chub around their waist and face, and had their undercut hair dyed pale blue, pink, and purple. Their clothing looked like it was made of liquid metal, and their platform boots were easily six gutros tall.

We walked towards our friend, and I could feel a few people looking at us with their eyebrows raised. The person Eini was talking to caught sight of us and grabbed her shoulders, nearly picking her up, "Eini, darling! You didn't tell me your friends were so unique!"

Wriggling playfully out of his arms, Eini smiled. "They are, my love."

Whoa. Were they… They sure acted like they were. Shaking her head, Johri voiced her lack of comfort. "Why don't you two just get a room?"

"We've got plenty of rooms, but that's not why we're here today." Looking over us, he said, "So if you're working with Eini, that must mean you've got some big plans for your futures. Spill. What is it you want to do?"

"Do we have to say what now?" Johri complained. "We're kind of on a time crunch as tomorrow we're going back to the station."

"Which means we only have today to get you looking like what you want to be." Eini's friend began circling Braxton. "If I know what you want to be, I can help you look the part. The dreadlocks are good on you, man. I think we can work with those."

I felt one of my eyes twitch seeing him eye my friend getting singled out by this guy. FOr some reason the way he circled Braxton just put me on edge. I didn't know why because he wasn't a soldier from the army. He was just an entitled rich… oh, that was probably it.

"So, Armon? Usual clothes shops for this trip?" Eini smiled.

"The usual shops."

Clearing her throat, Johri dropped the ball. "While I do need some new clothes, I would like to take the time to get myself some new tools. I can't use the previous set anymore."

"How come?" Eini's creepy boyfriend rose an eyebrow.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"I'm afraid it was my fault." Why was I saying this? "I may have dropped the box and broken them." That wasn't true at all, but the words just flew out of my mouth. Was I trying to lead this guy on the wrong path.

The glittering lank bought it though. "Guess you're not really handy to have around, are you? Not to worry. I know a good hardware store, and know the manufacturer of the stock so I can pull some strings and get you a custom set."

"Time crunch, remember?" Braxton shook his head. "We appreciate your offer, but we don't know when we'll be on solid ground again."

"I can hold it until you get back. Just give me audio clearance on your holo-screens and I can let you know when it's finished."

"They can be really stubborn about these things. His family wouldn't let me buy them a lot of stuff when I took them on a shopping spree." The rich girl shook her head. "I don't get why not."

"Because it's always good to have something for a rainy day, as the old saying goes." Our team mechanic said. "Besides, weren't you just cut off by your parents?"

"Your parents cut you off?" For once I got to see the guy's jaw drop, and I thought he was finally sweating. Wait. Why was he now laughing? "Oh, that's rich. They thought they could cut you off."

"Thanks to you, they only cut me off under my birth name. Now I'm free to live as Eini Atrisk. The only real tragedy is I can't exactly access the suite, but that's not that serious because I never liked that place."

"In that case, would you do me the honor of being the first man who shopped with Eini Atrisk when she finally became free?" Ugh, this guy was giving me a headache. I was half-tempted to sever the arm he extended to Eini in retaliation. He just didn't seem like someone who wanted to help because he cared. I swear this was all just some big game to him.

Taking his arm, the rich girl on our team smiled at him. "To freedom."

Freedom? Yeah, they really were free. They had everything given to them on a silver platter while some of us had to fight to stay alive. The two of them never had to endure persecution for being born in a country that lost a war, or living on society's scraps while everyone else feasted on more than they could consume. With all that and more, how could those two be anything but free?

Johri's stomach growled loudly. Eini turned to her creepy boyfriend, "But first, lunch."

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Honestly, I was so over this growth spurt and how tired and hungry it made me! Eini and Armon had insisted we eat at this fancy restaurant built into the mall. Well, it was fancy to the rest of us. They seemed about as awed at this luxurious place as I was by the vending machines in my old school. Which is to say, not at all.

The decor was very modern and very gold, and we were seated in a booth in a corner. The wall behind us was a giant holoscreen that seemed to only cycle through images of luxury. A little way across the section from us was a gorgeous exotic aquarium containing aquatic life I'd only ever seen in holofeeds at school!

A serverbot came and took our orders, and then I felt self-conscious again. I ordered _way_ more food than I'd ever ordered before, but somehow I knew that today it would only tide me over for a little while. My parents and I ate out all the time, but nothing like this! And to think I used to wish I was taller. Now I was wishing the opposite, if only to stop these hunger pangs.

The food came out, but while it was plated exquisitely, it didn't smell nearly as appetising as what Braxton's mom had made earlier. In fact, when I tasted it it was hard not to make a face. It tasted like someone just slapped together expensive ingredients without thinking about it. Sure, the flavors might have tasted good individually, but here it was almost overpowering in a way that almost made me gag. Almost, though, because I ate it anyway. I was hungry.

Just as I was finishing my first plate of food, a holoscreen popped up from the center of the table, and the face of none other than Admiral Bruce Arnold of the Protecting Force glared at us, and there was a clatter from Gracie's direction. "They hide among us, pretending to be average everyday citizens. Do not be fooled. Anyone around you could be one of them. If you see anything suspicious contact the Protecting Force, led by Netokan's own war hero high admiral Bruce Arnold. Together, we will step up over the Downtrod." Eini made a face as Admiral Arnold lingered for a moment, glaring authoritatively. I looked around, and noticed the same bulletin playing on every holo-screen in the restaurant.

"I-I'm sorry. Clumsy me." Gracie apologized as she reached for her fork that had fallen to the floor. As she picked it up a cleaner bot flew over to us and took it from her. Placing the utensil inside its chest we watched as a series of lights hit the fork until there was a ding, and the silverware was retrieved and given back to our friend looking like new.

We were all quiet for a moment, considering where we had been earlier that day.

"Hey, think they eat here often?" Armon then pointed to a group that had seated themselves by the aquarium not too far from us. They were all adults, but what stood out was one of the women was of the Hocamli. She was wearing a royal purple shirt, and had her long dark hair done in a traditional braid. The man she was with, however, screamed data nerd with his white shirt and ugly tie. However, the shade of his brown hair did seem familiar.

Opposite of them was another couple of a woman with curly brown hair with streaks of white. Her light blue sweater seemed to match her worn out look. Next to her was a man with black hair who looked like he was unsure if he should be there. The tension between them was so thick someone could cut it with a knife.

Braxton did a double-take. "It's them."

"Who?" Armon asked.

"The Normans and the Fays." The four of us exchanged a look. I turned to my food, which was suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. Gracie nearly slid under the table, and Braxton kept his head low.

"Who are they?" Armon asked, looking at Eini.

"Jason's and Clair's parents." Eini replied, not bothering to lower her voice.

"Who's that?"

"They're the kids that got sucked into space and- Ow! Who kicked me?!" Eini leaned down to rub her leg under the table.

"Eini it's none of our business," Braxton hissed, "And it's rude to talk about people in public."

I glanced up. All four parents were _definitely_ staring at us. The man with black hair was tightening his lips so they were turning white, and his face seemed to have developed a permanent scowl.

"Guys," Gracie squeaked, "I think they heard us."

"Nice going, Eini…" I muttered as who I assumed was Mr. Norman marched over to us.

"What was it you were saying?" Mr. Norman growled, "Can't you punks let us grieve in peace?"

I did my best to shrink in my seat. Braxton turned to Jason's father, "I'm so sorry about my friend's outburst, sir."

Mr. Norman studied Braxton's face, "... I know you. You were in that program too!" He noticed the rest of us, "All of you…" he seethed, but before he could say anything, the woman in the blue sweater put her hand on his shoulder.

"Kendall," she murmured, "let it go. What happened was an accident. It's probably been pretty scary up there since…" she trailed off as tears welled in her eyes.

"Joan," Kendall growled, "Our son and niece are both _dead_ because somebody onboard that station screwed up."

"That doesn't mean they-"

"I just want to know what happened," Kendall shouted, clenching his fists, "I want to hear it from them, not just Yeller's footage!"

While they were arguing, the four of us exchanged a look. We knew they were largely presumed dead on board the station, but it hadn't occurred to us to wonder what their families had been told.

And that begged the question: should we tell them?

Braxton looked up at the Normans, "How did you find out?"

"Well, Yeller sent it through his monthly video broadcasts showing the progress of the station." The woman who I knew was Clair's mother said as she joined us. "He made it an emergency report months ago reporting that a freak accident with the station led to… the two… of them… burning…" She couldn't finish her sentence before she broke into tears.

I didn't need her to finish to know what they were told. When the entire station shook from whatever that was Yeller told everyone our friends' tethers had snapped and they were lost to the void of space. So why had he told the families they were burned up in the atmosphere? Why would he not tell them the truth… maybe because he doesn't want people to know about other worlds?

While I was thinking, Mr. Fay tried to comfort his wife. "There, there, Elisa. It's okay. I miss her too, but we must trust that there is an afterlife, like your father teaches. What I don't get is how the station has an accident on the same day the entire planet has an earthquake."

That caught our leader's attention. "Earthquake?"

"Biggest story for days." Armon spoke up. "Everywhere suddenly started shaking out of control, and lots of islands ended up going under from tsunamis. For a moment, people thought the world was ending, but here we are."

The four of us looked at each other, confused. My thoughts went to my parents, and if they were okay. I couldn't call them right now, but I would, as soon as I could. "... No, we didn't hear anything about an earthquake."

"But we have news of our own. We- Augh! Gracie!" Eini had just started to speak when Gracie began to shove her way past us.  
"I'm so sorry! I have to use the bathroom please let me out!" As she tried to get past us she looked at me with big wide eyes that meant it was a serious trip she needed. As she tried to hurry us up, her hand ended up in a plate of food, slipped, and led to her falling on top of Eini and Me. She sputtered an apology, but the more she flailed trying to get up, the harder it was trying to push her off of us.

Eventually, I wriggled out from under the two other girls on top of me and onto the floor. I leaned over and pushed Gracie back first so Eini could get out of the booth. Once that was done I let Gracie slide out of the booth so we could go to the bathroom. As we ran towards the restrooms several cleaner robots hovered over to our table and began cleaning up the mess our friend made. We turned our attention to the bathroom as we slunk there, trying not to be noticed. Once we were standing by the sinks, I looked down and assessed the damage. My brand new jumpsuit looked pretty ruined. I sighed and looked back at Gracie and Eini. Their clothes were in similar shape.

I walked over to the sink to do what I could to salvage my clothes, and jumped back as a little cleaning bot zipped out from behind the mirror.

It latched onto my jumpsuit and immediately started working its way from the middle of the mess outward in a spiral.

It finished before I could really grasp what was happening, but when it flew back behind the mirror, my jumpsuit was spotless!

I looked around and the same had happened to Gracie's and Eini's clothes as well.

"I'm sorry for knocking you over," Gracie squeaked as she headed back for the door. Odd… Had she already used a stall while I was distracted? I didn't see her go in one...

"Just be glad that the cleaners here are effective, or I might have had to buy out the restaurant." Then Eini got a distinctive twinkle in her eye, "Actually-"  
"Eini I don't think you could manage a restaurant from Space." I deadpanned.

"Who said anything about managing it?" Eini retorted, "I can just own it and let it run as usual."

"What's the point of owning it, then?"

Eini rolled her eyes, "It's fun, duh."

"Still kinda pointless with no customers." I said, gesturing to the long row of green lights indicating empty stalls, "This place is almost abandoned!"

"For now," Eini conceded, "But not once we build a sister location on the moon." She looked up at me, "You'll be the one making that happen, with my resources of course."

"Sounds like fun."

"Are you sure that's going to happen?" Gracie asked, turning back to us.

"What are you talking about?" I raised an eyebrow at her, "It's clearly going to happen sooner than later. Think of all the opportunities!"

"Do those opportunities even exist?" Gracie asked hesitantly, "We've been told a lot of things… How do we know they're even true?"

"Are you serious?" I held out my arms, "Forget what we've been told, look what we've _done!_ I built a device that shouldn't have been possible and you've seen it work firsthand." I crossed my arms behind my head, "Space travel is going to be easy. Making it _convenient_ is what'll take some time."

"... I'm just saying…" Gracie trailed off before she trudged out the door. I stared after her. Was she… Did she really just doubt my abilities as an engineer?

"You look like she just slapped you." Eini grumbled.

I took a deep breath, "Yeah, well…" I could feel my jaw clenching, "We'll see what she thinks when I bring our friends back."

"Friends?" Eini looked at me quizzically, "We barely talked to them before."

"Of course! They showed us a whole new world, challenged what we knew about reality itself. If that's not a friend, I don't know what is."

* * *

JASON'S POV

After we reported what happened to Yen Sid he sent us back to Radiant Garden to get work at getting stronger. Merlin conjured up some sort of special fields for Clair and I to train in so we can get weeks worth of work-outs in just a few hours. Clair's gotten more magical training with Merlin and Aerith, while I've been working with mastering Keyblade transformations. Even though magic wasn't my forte, I could still feel myself growing stronger. Still, I was surprised that today's mentors were so identical in appearance I wondered if they were supposed to be clones, or that other word. Twins.

They definitely looked like it. Same spiky blonde hairstyles, same face shape, same blue eyes. Even their clothes were similar but managed give a way to tell those two apart. The one called Roxas wore a black, high-collared jacket under another unzipped white jacket with several black markings. His pants were also two different colors: the legs were beige while the rest was some dark color I couldn't recognize. Roxas also wore a black-and-white wrist band that was patterned like an old checkerboard. I noticed on one hand he had a black ring while on the other he had a white one.

Ventus, or Ven as he insisted on being called, wore a jacket that was white on the right side and black on the left. I think he had a grey vest underneath that, and under that was some sort of black shirt. I'm surprised he didn't get hot like that. He appeared to have two pieces of dull green and grey armor, one on his midsection and the other on his left shoulder which was a very good way to tell those two apart. He also had some sort of pants that ballooned out a bit.

I had asked them about why they looked so similar, but they told us it was too complicated to go into right now, but that Sora was involved. I wish I could've pressed them for more details, but I had to block myself from their speed attacks. "Whoa, Ven. You swallow the wind for breakfast or something?"

That blondie smiled. "Maybe."

Rolling my eyes at his joke, I said, "So how come neither of you have transformed your Keyblades?"

"This is about you, not us." The one I was sure was called Roxas said. Rolling my eyes, I readied my Divine Rose Keyblade in its Enchanted Axe form as the two of them switched places. "Come on, then."

Lunging at Roxas, I swung my weapon at the experienced hero. He twirled his Keyblade, some silver two-bladed sword that connected to a blue-and-yellow half-star teeth with a winged guard, and blocked my attack before he called forth another Keyblade that was black with the reverse crown symbol for the teeth and black wings for the guard connected by a big blue gem. Now that had to be cheating. How was he able to wield two Keyblades at the same time?

My hesitation cost me as he pushed me back with his weapons. Grunting from this I decided to use some of the abilities of my own weapon. "Piercing Rush!" I slammed the axe down into the ground, creating a shockwave that rushed at my opponent.

Dodging my attack, Roxas then threw one of his Keyblades at me. "Strike Raid!" His attack forced me to dodge, and as I did I realized I did a somersault. Whoa. THat was impressive because- augh! My hesitation gave Roxas an opening to strike me!

"Don't let your guard down." I was pretty sure that was Ven who said that. I then saw Roxas throw a bunch of light orbs at me. Throwing up my transformed Keyblade to shield myself from the incoming attack, I was able to protect myself though I felt myself take a step back. Wait. Where did the two identical trainers go?

"Surprise!" Ven said as he and Roxas appeared in front of me, ready to strike. My axe then turned into that rose shield cannon thing and blocked their attack. I was able to block them, but my feet skidded back a bit from their combined move. Double teaming was a good move on their part, but I could feel my shield charging up for that final move.

As they leapt backwards I decided to go on the offensive. "Glimmering Torpedo!" The concentrated beam of light shot out and raced towards the two of them. Realizing it was too powerful to take, Roxas and Ven then rolled to the left and right which caused my attack to miss.

"Wind Raid!" Ventus shouted as he threw his Keyblade now coated in wind magic. Before I could do anything his attack made contact. I grunted from the impact, but then it began to fly around me from all angles as it continued to land blows. As I felt myself getting hammered, I reached for the keychain token that came from Neverland only for my hand to get smacked. I could feel myself getting frustrated from this, but I had to keep a level head. Never mind. That Keyblade is really getting on my nerves!

"Enough!" Roxas then said. "Ven, stop."

As Ven called his Keyblade back to him, I panted heavily as my cannon shield, the Sentinel Rose, reverted back to its Keyblade form. Wiping some of the sweat from my forehead, I asked, "Why'd you stop us, Roxas? I could've kept going."

"I sensed the darkness growing in you."

I paused at his response. "What?"

"I could feel it getting stronger in you. If we had pressed you we might have caused you to give in to it."

That statement made me stiffen. "Maybe I was getting a little steamed."

"You can't afford to let your temper get the better of you. You must stay calm even in the most difficult of circumstances." Ven told me.

With a grunt, I retorted, "It's kind of hard to keep calm when you're getting pummeled."

"Sorry." Ven rubbed the back of his neck. "If it helps, you are getting better."

That was a relief. And yet… "So why doesn't it feel like it's enough?"

This gained their attention. "What do you mean?" Roxas inquired from where he was standing.

Looking at them, I explained. "Ever since I gained the ability to gain new weapons from my Keyblade Mortem has become fixated with me, and I still don't understand this ability. It just happens as a reaction to keep me alive. Somehow I don't think I can keep relying on dumb luck to beat him." Looking down at the weapon in my hands, I added, "I don't know what his deal is, but he went on about how power is everything. And he definitely has the strength to back up his words. What is it going to take to stop him?"

"That attitude won't help." Ven told me.

With a smile, Roxas said, "Believe in yourself. Obviously your Keyblade believes in you."

My Keyblade believed in me? How does that work? As I looked at the weapon in my hand, I thought about what they said. The more I reflected, the more their words felt right. And why did my Keyblade seem to vibrate at my thoughts? Was it... was it agreeing with me? I swear one buzz felt like a "well, duh" from it.

Looking up, I asked, "Shall we get back to training?"

"I think that's enough for today." Roxas said. "You in the mood for sea salt ice cream?"

"For what?"

Smiling, Ven said, "Trust me. It's going to change your world."

"This is delicious!" I said as I tasted the blue-and-white ice cream. Salty, and sweet. Kind of weird, but so good. Definitely no flavor on Harthyn compares to this. Now I wanted Mom to have some of this stuff. She would've loved it too.

As the three of us sat along the edge of the cliff looking at the vast wilderness we were training, they nodded in agreement. "It's one of my favorite treats." Roxas admitted. "Been having it with my friends all my life."

I glanced over at him at that. "Really?"

"Yeah... each time we were successful, we'd always have this ice cream while watching the sunset together." He had a fond smile on his face, like those were memories he would always cherish.

"So, how come you decided this was your favorite treat?" I asked while taking another bite.

"It was the first one shared with me." Roxas admitted. "Whenever I have some, I think about that day."

"I see." I muttered, wondering if Clair would like this. She probably would, but I couldn't reach her where I was. Hopefully she was doing good with her magic training. I didn't know how but something about her was different when we arrived at the Mysterious Tower. And somehow I was more scared of that than hearing about how her magic just possessed her at Beast's Castle.

* * *

 **Sorry the shopping bit was long, but I figured I kept you all waiting long enough.**


	27. Don't be scarred

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Clair Fay and Jason Norman are mine.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Thanks to AquaStormfall, TheGoodandtheBadXBoy, and YamiChaos27 for helping with this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 27: Don't be scarred

MORTEM'S POV

When I went back to the lab of my so-called rescuer, the first thing I did was toss him the gem he gave me. "You can have this back."

"What? Not what you were expecting?" The figure asked.

"No. It's because I have no need to summon help. I have the Unversed and Leroy. That's all I need. I prefer to fight using MY OWN power. The Unversed are part of me, so that counts in my book, and even then they're little more than meager tools. But summoning a separate being to do my work for me proves nothing to my opponents, and I will not have them thinking I am weak."

The figure shook his head. "How you choose to fight is up to you, but be wary of your arrogance. It might be your downfall. I must admit though, I am impressed with how Jason has responded to your repeated attacks. I knew he was strong, but I did not expect him to obtain this power at all. It's almost like his Keyblade responded to a need to stay alive against your power."

"He's proven to be a worthy opponent, I'll give him that." I told him. "Whether it's his own talent or blind luck is yet to be determined. But regardless, he's given me the challenge I've been craving for a while."

"And the girl? She's shown that she hasn't tapped into her true potential of her magic. But then, even my equipment has a hard time analyzing those abilities."

With a scoff, I gave my answer. "A waste of a Keyblade. While I won't deny she has potential after what I've witnessed from her, her problem is that she's too much of a coward to really live up to that potential. She just constantly disappoints me."

"Even if she were to be descended from this Morgan?"

I laughed at that. "Oh please! Just the idea is laughable in of itself! And even if it were true then whoever this Morgan is must be a joke!"

"Well, you could always force that Merlin to tell you about her. My sources indicate he knows about her."

"I don't care about some old witch. Far as I'm concerned she's dead and buried. Nothing for me to focus on."

With a shrug, he told me, "Suit yourself. It's always good to know these things. Knowledge is power after all."

"No. Power is power."

"To each his own. Whatever you do, do not kill her just yet. I still believe I can use the Hocamli girl in my plans."

That statement made me raise an eyebrow. "Oh? And you could possibly use her for?"

"My business. Now, run along. I believe you are still five hearts short, unless you decide to have another rematch."

His answer made me frown a bit more. Why do I even bother? This enigmatic doc never tells me anything. Part of me really wishes he'd tell me what he's really up to. But at the same time, why should I even care when I have my own problems and goals? Shaking my head, I turned around to leave.

"Remember what I said, and be wary of your arrogance. Focus, or you will be taken off from your mission. No mission, no memories." The doctor reminded me which I didn't really need to hear. My mind was on my problems. "It happened once when I tried to recruit someone into my plans, but his pride got into his head and he rejected my offer."

Rolling my eyes, I opened a corridor of darkness and left him. Why do I still associate with Mister Secretive? His ambiguous answers to everything were getting on my nerves, and now I was tempted to torture him the next time he gave no answers until he spilled.

"Mortem." Leroy held something up, something like that holographic device I saw the hooded man use from time to time. "I made this to hack into the man's computer to get the answers he won't give us. He's got a lot of interesting things he's building."

As I watched Leroy move through the schematics, I noticed one that was too familiar. "Hold on. Pull that up." As the red monster did, I couldn't believe it. It was the device I destroyed when I first crossed paths with Norman. But why was it in the hooded man's computer? "Why does Mister Cloak have designs for the teleporter?"

"Teleporter? This thing couldn't teleport groceries." Leroy zoomed it. "The engine isn't designed to handle that kind of pressure. All this is is a fancy stand."

Now that caught my interest. The so-called teleporter was not meant to send anyone anywhere? Why would the Hooded Man send me to destroy a machine that didn't work unless... now I was starting to wonder if I was just used to cover someone's tracks. The idea that I was being used really irked me to where I let out a growl. What was he really up to? And why did I feel a need to warn my opponent about what I found?

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

This was bliss. No more worries, no more concerns. It was so nice, and yet for some reason I couldn't manage my basic spells. I tried to cast the fire spell, but all I could manage were a few embers. Oh well. They were pretty to look at.

"You sure you're okay?" Aerith asked.

I gave a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine, Aerith."

She looked at me with a worried expression. "Are you sure? I remember you mastered a lot of these spells with ease. Now you're struggling with the basics. Did something happen?"

"Nothing worth worrying about." I told her, though she still looked concerned. "Watch. All it's going to take is a little more practice-."

"I think that's enough practice." Aerith said.

I blinked at that. "Really?"

With a nod, she turned to the sky. "Merlin? We're ready to come back." The trees shimmered for a bit, and then the mountains of books Merlin had replaced them. I looked around to see we had returned to the committee headquarters. I didn't understand why but oh well.

A chair moved back as Merlin stood up. "Have you decided that was enough training for now?"

"I could've gotten the spell to work. Eventually." I insisted

"Oh? Did something happen?"

"She isn't showing the same level of skill she had before." My teacher told him.

"How so?"

"She's having trouble with the basic spells, now." She looked at me, motioning to give a demonstration. I did so as the embers appeared again, flickering in my hand.

The old wizard stroked his beard. "I see. Clair, why don't you head to the castle? There's someone who wants to meet you and your cousin."

I rose an eyebrow. "Who is it?" I asked curiously.

"Her name is Naminé."

"Naminé?"

"I'm sure you'll like her. Xion, would you mind going with her?"

I looked back, seeing a girl with short, black hair and blue eyes wearing a sleeveless, black shirt with three buttons on each side, a belt, a white skirt, and black boots that were beige near the top. "Of course, Merlin," She gave a nod although I had to do a double take because she looked so much like Kairi, "Follow me." Xion then started to escort me. "Oh, and it's nice to meet you, Clair."

"Nice to meet you, too." I said to her as I caught up to her. "Are you related to Kairi?"

"Eh, no. It's… kinda long and complicated to explain." She told me, though I felt like it was a little painful for her to talk about. I decided to not press it as we left the building.

* * *

JASON'S POV

I was surprised when I was pulled out of that pocket dimension thing and back into the committee headquarters. What was going on now? Ven, Roxas, and I all saw Aerith, Merlin, Leon, Sora, and Kairi waiting for us. "What's going on?" I questioned them.

"We need to talk with you." Merlin said. "It's about your cousin."

Clair? "Please tell me it's not about this le Fay person, because—."

"It's not." Aerith said. "It's Clair herself. I tried helping her develop her spells, but it's like she's lost the ability to use magic."

That made my jaw drop. "Lost it? What's the proof?"

"She can't seem to cast them right, anymore." Aerith said. "She can barely manage embers and flurries."

"Is that even possible?"

Sora just shrugged. "It's a first for me."

"Strangely, she doesn't seem at all concerned about it," The cetra said. "She just keeps smiling and insists everything will work out."

Gri's beak. I needed to think about this. What could've happened that caused this? Well, I know she was upset when I sacrificed myself in the Cave of Wonders, but that didn't seem to fit. Unless it had something to do with what happened moments before I got there.

"What happened to her that could've caused this?" Ven wondered.

"Must have something to do with what happened at Beast's Castle." I thought. "I don't know all the details but my cousin lost control of herself." Why did Scrooge have to check on his old business now? Aqua probably could explain this better, but she had to check on the other princesses.

"Lost control?" Ventus blinked.

"The way Scrooge described it she was like a demon, and her rage at the time was so strong, that Mortem was able to create a large wolf-beast Unversed from her anger."

That shocked Aerith. "Oh, my."

I continued my theory. "It must've affected her. Maybe she's trying to keep that from happening again, but it just seems off that in less than a day she goes from being herself to Miss Sparkle Smile."

"She hasn't said anything to you?" Roxas asked, to which I shook my head.

"Not quite." I admitted. "I can't figure out what's up."

"Well, She did seem fascinated with the hearts of light." Kairi spoke up.

I blinked at that. "What do you mean?"

"She liked the idea that a heart could exist free of darkness, and... she told me she wished she could've been chosen to have one of the hearts of light."

I paused to think about what I have been told. Clair really said that? But each of the hearts already belonged to different people, and Mortem stole two of them. So this couldn't be a result of having one, unless... "Gri's beak."

That got everyone's attention. "You don't think she...?"

"There's only one way to find out. And I hope I'm wrong."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

I continued to follow Xion through Radiant Garden towards the castle. Following her up some steps to the main gate, a couple of guards blocked our way. One had black dreadlocks and carried a spear, while the other had red hair and carried a large axe. "Halt." They said while blocking our way with their weapons. "Names and business in the castle."

"Xion, and Clair Fay." Xion explained. "We're here to see Naminé."

The two guards looked at each other, then back to us. Pulling their weapons apart they gave us directions. "Main library, second floor."

"Thank you." Xion nodded before we passed by them. I couldn't help but marvel at how amazing the castle looked up close. It was beautiful. It was unlike any of the architecture on Harthyn, with how thick it was and the towers like little spouts. It didn't take long before we passed through the large doors and into the castle.

The hallways were confusing to navigate, but eventually we were able to find our way into the library. There were so many books just calling to me, begging me to empty the shelves and read everything. I found my hand reaching up for one, eager to see what secrets were contained within the pages.

"Hello." A voice said before I could get one. Darn it. I turned, seeing a blonde girl with blue eyes wearing a white dress. She had her hair styled to rest over one of her shoulders, and I realized that she also looked a lot like Kairi.

"Hi." I smiled at her.

She gave a wave to me as Xion greeted, "Hello, Naminé."

"I'm glad you could come." She said as she gestured to a table where there were lots of drawings strewn about. I thought I recognized one of Tamatoa getting electrocuted by me, and another where Jason fought Mortem in Neverland. How did she know about all this?

"Why did you want to see me?" I asked curiously. I knew nothing about her, and yet she seemed to know a lot about my cousin and I. Who was she?

"I wanted to help you with your journey. You see, I'm a witch with power over the memories of people."

"A witch?" I blinked at that. She looked so kind, though. My research on witches said a great deal of them were evil and sought to bring darkness to the worlds, like Queen Grimhilde of Dwarf Woodlands and Maleficent. Was she really like one of those beings I read about?

"Don't worry. She's one of us." Xion told me.

Naminé gave a nod as she approached us. "I only use my powers to understand others, and find ways to help them. My abilities do have limits, as I can only work with those who are connected to Sora through friendship."

That does make sense. Even though Jason and I only met Sora briefly I felt like we connected with him. Was it really that easy to become his friend? Guess it was if she was able to see what happened with the two of us. "So what could you help us with?" I asked her.

"To help one who is now connected to Sora as you are find his lost memories." She replied.

"Lost memories?"

With a nod, Naminé moved to get some drawings that were strewn out on one of the tables. However, before she could get there a bookshelf lifted up and threw itself at us, forcing the three of us to duck.

"He, he. We're back." Leroy said as he climbed up another bookshelf. The presence of that red furball could only mean one thing. If he was here, then that meant that- Ow! A blast hit me in the chest, knocking back into a bookshelf, making the books fall off!

"Don't say I sunk so low as to attack someone from behind." Mortem said as he appeared. "You need to be more alert because you never know when or where an enemy will strike." Summoning his Keyblade he lunged at me only to be blocked by Xion?!

"What? Why does your Keyblade look like Sora's?" I asked her.

"Long story!" She told me. She managed to push him back before lunging at him with an attack of her own.

Blocking her attack, Mortem's visible eye narrowed as he stared at Xion intently. He then took a quick glance at Namine. For a brief second he held his head as if in pain and he growled. "Why must I meet not one, but three people who share her face?" Before anyone could question what he meant, he then launched a dark fireball at Xion.

She managed to block it, but the impact sent her flying backward into a shelf. Getting back up, she cast a Blizzard spell at the dark warrior. While he leapt to avoid one Leroy was hit and frozen by one. It didn't take long for the little monster to break free of his prison, though his teeth were chattering. The girl then pulled her Keyblade back with a flash of light and shouted. "Sonic Blade!" She moved in a blur as she managed to attack both Mortem and Leroy at the same time.

Leroy crashed into a bookshelf while Mortem was sent flying back a couple feet, grunting in pain as he regained his footing. Then Xion came around for another strike which also hit. But Mortem then blocked the third strike before kicking her away. He then charged up his weapon for an attack. "Darkness Wave!" Xion braced herself with her light coated Keyblade. The blast pushed her back with more power than she could counter. She fell to one knee after hitting a shelf.

"You're tough, I'll give you that," Mortem said. "But clearly not as strong as _her_."

Xion cringed a bit, using the shelf to pull herself up. "You should never underestimate a Guardian of Light." She then rushed forward to attack him.

"We'll see!" Mortem then pointed his Keyblade at Xion as a black hole seemed to form at its tip. "Phantom Hunters!" he shouted as a bunch of dark, ghostly wolves bursted out of the hole one after another, flying toward her. She threw her Keyblade up to try and block it, but she wasn't fast enough. The wolves slammed into her, biting and tearing her. Even though they were ethereal the expression she had and her cries were enough to say it hurt as much as if she was being mauled by a real pack. When the wolves vanished, she fell backward writhing in pain.

I looked at Mortem, who stared at the downed Keybearer with an odd expression. He looked like something about Xion was bothering him.

Naminé looked like she wanted to jump in and help. "Stop!" she exclaimed to Mortem, who was still looking at Xion. She started to move towards them, but her way was blocked by the little red beast.

With a laugh, Leroy asked, "You want some of that too?" She just moved past him, though he tried to grab her as she did. However, she just gave a hard stare that made him release her. Did she do something to his memories?

As Naminé approached him Mortem grunted in frustration. "Why...Why do you two and that Princess look like _her_!?"

Xion grimaced in pain. "What are you... talking about...?"

"You ever seen a girl who has the same face as you but with silver hair?" the redhead asked.

"Silver hair?" Naminé looked at Morten's feet, and I noticed there was a drawing there. Unfortunately he noticed too and picked it up, and his eyes widened.

"This is her." He said.

He then glared at the blond. "What is this?"

"Mortem, I don't know who she is, but I know from your memories that she is important to you." She answered.

"My memories? And what exactly do you know of my memories?"

"I have power over memories." Naminé admitted. "And I know how you were put through things no child should've experienced, how it filled you with hate for everyone. I couldn't see beyond the memory of your first meeting with her, but I could feel from that memory she became important to you."

Mortem look very conflicted. I couldn't help but wonder if what Namine was saying was really true. After a minute, he growled, "This is impossible..." He then suddenly gripped his head as if in pain before pointing his Keyblade at her, startling her. "Is this some kind of trick? Are you trying to get in my head?!"

She shook her head, holding up her hands in surrender. "No, I swear it's not a trick!"

I didn't know what to do… "Mortem, can't you see she's trying to help you?" Why did those words fly out of my mouth?

"Help me?!" he shouted. "Don't make me laugh! You're all just trying to convince me not to go after the Princesses aren't you?! Well I'm not bending to anyone's will!"

"Why must you be so horrible? Why can't you be a hero instead of a villain?" I found myself taking a few steps as I spoke. Why was this happening? Why couldn't he be reasonable like he was back in Devil's Bayou?

He shook his head. "Hero? Villain? Such empty words."

"Blizzara." However when I cast the spell only a few flurries came out. I tried again, only for the same thing to happen. Come on. I had this spell down.

I saw Mortem raise an eyebrow. "What's the matter? Your spells aren't normally this pitiful."

"Thundara?" Just spurts of static. "... Fira?" Like earlier, only embers flickered in my hands. Come on, magic.

The dark Keybearer appeared annoyed. "Oh come on! Put more feel to it! Where's the drive for your power?"

"Hold it!" I heard my cousin rush into the room, with Sora, Kairi, Ven, and Roxas not far behind him. "Clair, tell me you didn't."

"What?"

"Did you lock your darkness away?"

How did he find out? "Um..." I didn't know what to say.

"You did, didn't you?" Jason asked with worry.

No way to keep it secret now. "So what if I did? I'm happier now."

"Clarissa Fay, that's not the point!" His words made me jump a bit. With a sigh, he asked, "Did Beast's Castle affect you that much that you'd try to make your heart a counterfeit to the hearts of light?"

"Yes, it did. Jason, I thought you were dead, and in my grief I almost did something horrible. Something that would've made me a... a savage." I hated that word passing from my lips, but there was no other way to describe it. What I almost did was unforgivable. "I felt so horrible. I tried to move on, but I couldn't. So I decided to make sure it wouldn't happen again."

"By locking a part of yourself away?" Shaking his head, Jason added, "That won't help. You're just burying the problem instead of dealing with it."

"It's better than leaving it out where it could do damage." I retorted. "I feel free now. I'm a better human."

"No you're not." He told me. "What you've done is an abomination. It was something that shouldn't have been done."

The hero of the Keyblade then spoke up. "Clair, don't you realize what you've done? Not giving in to the darkness doesn't mean you turn your heart into a prison."

Shaking my head, I said, "I don't think you understand. I've done something that should've been impossible. I made my heart just like a heart of light."

Kairi then added to the conversation. "Just because you could do it doesn't mean you should. And I don't think you've purged yourself of darkness. More like just kept it from doing anything for you."

"I made it so I couldn't hurt you or anyone else."

"You're hurting me now!" Jason raised his voice in a way I never heard from him before. "Seeing you do this to yourself, just to be like the princesses. Clair, that's not right. I don't know how the hearts work, but I'm willing to swear by Gri that it doesn't mean turning yourself into an organic robot! So you lost your temper, so you did things you regret, it doesn't matter. It just means you are human! And right now, you've made yourself into something that isn't. And it hurts to see my cousin like this!"

Shaking my head, I said, "I never thought I'd see the day where my cousin would imply the word savage to me."

"I'm not! Clair, why won't you understand what I'm trying to tell you? Doing the right thing doesn't mean destroying your humanity!"

His words made me take a step back. I wasn't afraid of him, but this was a side I have never seen before, and it was making me question myself. Was I really doing the right thing?

My thoughts were interrupted when we heard an amused chuckle from Mortem. "You actually sealed away your own darkness?" he asked. "While I'm impressed you were able to pull off such a thing, you've just proven that you're a bigger coward than I thought. You are so afraid of your own darkness that you'd resort to locking it away? How utterly pathetic! It's no wonder your spells have no drive behind them. You're not using the slightest hint of anger, are you? You sealed that emotion too, didn't you?"

"Of course. It's the root of all evil." I said.

"Darkness doesn't always mean evil, Clair. Just as anger isn't always bad." Ven told me. "My master, he didn't understand that. Aqua almost lost herself because she tried to push her darkness out of her heart."

"How can you say that? Of course it is bad!" I protested.

Shaking her head, Naminé said, "Not always. There have been moments where anger could lead to good things."

"For once I can agree," said Mortem. "Anger is what helps you recognize what you don't like, spurs you to take action, and gives you the strength to fight. Look at me. I know how to weaponized my wrath."

Nodding, Jason said, "Not the example I would've chosen, but it works. And he makes a point. Without anger or fear, you can't test yourself. And didn't Uncle Thomas say what made the ancient heroes timeless to the world was not being perfect, but learning to overcome their weaknesses?"

"Yeah, but-."

"But nothing. Jessica always said that a coal can only become a diamond after it's been beaten and put through horrible pressure."

I paused upon hearing my old friend's words. Is it true? That anger can be used for good? I thought about the old tales, and... they were right. The heroes were only able to overcome their challenges because they had a drive. Right now, I felt no drive. And for some reason that bothered me.

"Clair. Right now the words of your friend are about you." The blonde girl said while she tried to revive Xion.

"As amusing as this is," Mortem pointed his Keyblade at Jason. "I believe we still some unfinished business."

With a frown, my cousin summoned his Keyblade, which was still equipped with the rose from Beast's Castle. "Seriously? Now? You've already made a mess in here, and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be quiet in a library."

Was my cousin attempting to joke?

"Won't you at least consider someplace a little more... open? That way you can go as wild as you want without damaging anything valuable? I'll even fight on the front stairs."

"Who cares about some dumb old books?" Leroy asked. "I say trash the place some more. It can only be an improvement."

How could anyone say something so horrible?

The dark warrior scoffed at that. "I don't care for books..." he paused for a moment, "but if you insist..." He then suddenly grabbed onto my cousin and threw him out of the nearest door, followed by the four my cousin came with. With a cry I ran after them, not hearing what the memory witch was trying to tell me. I could hear my cousin and our enemy crashing through the halls and ruin what decor there was.

I wasn't able to catch up to them until I made it out of the castle entrance. The two were clashing Keyblades over and over with Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Ventus surrounding Mortem. "Mortem, stop this!" Kairi told him. "You're better than this. I know it."

He took his attention off my cousin to look at the others. "You followed us? You two must be gluttons for punishment to challenge me again after Wonderland."

"This is the guy?" Ventus asked, earning a nod from Sora.

As the dark warrior looked around at the six of us. "I could just use my Unversed to occupy most of you." He glanced at my direction for a second. "But today I wish to demonstrate something. Witness the power of rage unleashed to its fullest but not hindered by a lack of control." Darkness soon gathered intensely around Mortem, and I could feel the ground beneath trembling. "DARK FRENZY!" He let out a loud battlecry as darkness was unleashed. A dark aura shrouded him, his red hair was sticking up more, and his yellow eyes were glowing. His teeth were clenched and his limbs were tense. I also noticed his left arm was twitching a little as some kind of red electricity sparked around it. I could almost feel his wrath from here. It was so strong, and yet so focused. Somehow I knew he was still in control of himself.

As he charged at us with surprising speed Sora fired an orb of light at him, but the dark warrior was able to dodge with ease. Mortem then leaped high into the air before bringing his Keyblade down, slamming it onto the ground and creating a large shockwave that knocked us all back, including Sora and Kairi. While my cousin, the princess of heart, and I staggered to our feet our other three friends managed to regain their bearings quickly. The trio that bore strong similarities to each other went on the offensive.

"Wind Raid!"

"Strike Raid!"

"Trinity Limit!"

Mortem deflected the thrown Keyblades, then sank into a dark pool, avoiding the explosion of light. As the three of them prepared for the next attack it moved towards Ven who tried to get out of the way. Unfortunately he couldn't get far enough quickly and Mortem leapt out of the pool, keyblade raised and ready to strike. Ven managed to bring his Keyblade up to block before kicking the dark warrior back. The raging warrior then held his left hand out and released a burst of red lightning. Ven cried out as he was knocked back, but he managed to recover in midair and unleashed a Firaga spell. Mortem responded by firing his own Dark Firaga spell, which hit Ven and threw him against a wall where he slid down groaning in pain.

"Ragnarok!" Sora shouted as he unleashed a fusillade of projectiles.

Mortem just rushed forward, slicing through each orb like it was nothing. Then, using his Keyblade, he took the last one, coated it with darkness, and sent it back at Sora. "Possessed move!" Sora was forced to dodge as they tried to hit him. Before he could catch his breath he found himself blocking a powerful blow from his opponent's Keyblade. "You are the great hero? The one who defeated Xehanort?" Mortem asked. "Show me your power!"

Sora then managed to push him back before he quickly swapped his Keychain for some kind of toy themed Keyblade before proceeding to transform it into a large hammer. His clothes also seemed have gotten much redder. As he swung his weapon, the two met in a clash that shook the area. Even though his warhammer was strong in this state it seemed like the Vengeful Chaos Keyblade was still on equal ground. Sora raised his rocket powered hammer and brought it down onto Mortem, only for the berserker to block it, though it did seem to be taking some effort to hold it back. "Yes. Yes! This is more like it!"

It took a moment, but Mortem was able to force it back. This fight seemed to fill him with the same pleasure he got from facing my cousin, if not more. Mortem then transformed his Keyblade into its scythe form and swung it at the hero who was grazed by the weapon. Sora had to use his hammer to block a strike, but then Mortem struck again landing another hit. The Keyblade Hero then slammed his warhammer down on the ground, shattering it and doing damage to the dark warrior before it transformed back into a strange cactus-like Keyblade. The two went back and forth for a while, until Mortem fired a lighting beam from his scythe. Sora couldn't block the attack, so he ended up getting knocked back, crying out as he landed on his back.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out as she ran over to him, falling to her knees as she checked on him. "Sora! Speak to me." She got a groan in response. Roxas then attempted to attack the berserker from behind, only for Mortem to dodge, grab him by the neck and zap him with his red electricity before tossing him into a wall. With a groan he slid down the wall unconscious before Mortem turned his attention to me.

He pointed his scythe at me, staring with those still glowing eyes. "Do you see now?! This is the power of rage! The kind that guarantees victory. What you unleashed before was pathetic, as are you!" He fired his electricity at me, but then my cousin got in front of me, changing his Divine Rose Keyblade from Enchanted Axe to the rose shield.

As he held off the attack, my cousin said, "You want her, you go through me. Let's see if your berserker mode can break the Sentinel Rose." Looking at me, he said, "Clair, get to safety!"

"But-."

"Do it!"

Mortem ceased his lightning as he grinned. "Ah, yes! WHERE WERE WE!?"

"Glimmering Torpedo!" Jason fired the attack from his shield, but this time Mortem was able to leap high out of the way.

I then gave a cry as Leroy attacked me. It picked me up and began swinging be around before releasing me, sending me flying towards a wall. Crying out from the impact, I slid down while thinking of how Ven and Roxas went through this.

"CLAIR!" I heard Jason shout.

"Eyes on me, Jason!" exclaimed Mortem.

"Out of my way!" Jason tried to push his way past his opponent, but a hand wrapped around his ankle before he could get too far.

"I said eyes on me!" Mortem slammed my cousin onto the stairs.

Before I could get up, Leroy tackled me and sliced at me with his claws. It was horrible to see him tearing into me with those things, causing me to bleed out. I tried to hit him with my Keyblade, but it felt as powerless as my spells currently were. The red fur ball snickered at my pitiful attempts. "You are weak. Mortem is right to say the weak should be killed. I don't know why our associate prefers you of all people alive, but the way I see it, you're useless to him."

"Associate?" I rose an eyebrow. "Who's your associate?" Leroy just tried to claw at me again. I tried to get him off my, but my arms felt like they had no strength. All I could do was cringe while I felt his teeth and claws in me.

"Pearl!" I heard Kairi shout as a sphere of light blasted Leroy off of me. Getting to my feet while thanking the princess, I saw Jason still contending with Mortem. They were both fighting using their standard Keyblade forms as they clashed back and forth, until the berserker kicked my cousin back.

"You still insist on protecting the weak?" Mortem asked my cousin. "Why help others who wouldn't lift a finger to help you?"

With a grunt Jason staggered back before he answered Mortem's question. "Because I refuse to just sit back and let them suffer. I won't let anyone go through what I went through. Or what you went through."

The dark warrior paused at that, and his face became expressionless. "What I went through? You think you know me? You think not being allowed to live is the same as being treated like demon spawn?"

Jason readied his Keyblade. "At least I'm doing my best not to stoop to my father's level." The two then clashed blades, the air ringing with the sound of metal striking metal. "And what about you, Mortem? Are you telling me you're willing to stoop to the level of your oppressors?"

Mortem then growled as he began to swing much more aggressively, and Jason was struggling just to defend himself. Soon Mortem swung so hard that he knocked my cousins Keyblade right out of his hand. "You know nothing!" With a loud cry, he quickly followed up by slashing across his face.

It was like the world just froze as I heard Jason give a cry of pain I had never heard before. Watching him fall, while his hand went to his face, it was too horrible. My cousin needed me, but as long as my spell was in effect I was useless! I... I had to help him! But how?! Soon, I felt my heart pounding harder than I thought possible. It felt as if it was trying to break free from a prison. I grimaced at the pain. What do I do?!

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked to see Kairi. She looked at me as if she knew what was going on with me. "Don't let your heart become a prison. Don't fight your feelings. Just set them free, and do what you believe is right."

"But..."

"Be yourself, Clair. Don't try to be someone else. You do you."

I could see Mortem was starting to come our way, but then my cousin grabbed his ankle. "We're not done."

Now or never. Break free of the prison I made. Jason's risking his life for me. In my mind, I could see the lock I cast on my heart, wrapping the darkness behind a door that was not meant to be opened. Because I had wanted to be something I wasn't. Gathering what courage I could muster, I summoned my Keyblade and pointed at the lock.

I could feel the pain intensify, but I had to fight through it. A light flew from my Keyblade and entered the lock, which fell from the door. The pain subsided and suddenly I felt whole again. Holding my hands in front of me, I felt words come to me. "Just as a heart can't know joy without knowing sadness, my power is incomplete without light or darkness. And so I bring the two together to create harmony from chaos." While I spoke two orbs appeared in my hands, one made of light while the other was a swirling mass of darkness. As I brought the two orbs together I declared the name of the attack. "Harmonic Force!" The attack then fired, and hit Mortem with such force that he was sent flying backwards into the castle.

Taking the opportunity, I rushed to my cousin's side. "Jason? Jason?" When he looked at me, I had to pull his hand away to see the damage. What was there made me gasp, as now there was a nasty scratch that began in between his eyes and curved all the way under his right cheekbone. The sight made me cover my mouth in horror. "I...I'm so sorry!" I said as my eyes got teary. "If I hadn't held myself back..."

"It's on me." He said. "Don't blame yourself for this." He did wince in pain while he said that.

We then heard Mortem recovering from my attack. We looked over to where he was, frowning as I prayed I could continue to face him. As he pulled himself out of the Mortem-shaped hole that was now there, he looked at me. "So, you can fight after all." In a flash he was right in front of me, holding his Keyblade at me. "Are you done holding back then?"

I was hesitant to answer him after what he did, but this was my chance to prove him wrong. That he won't win anymore. Summoning my Keyblade, I said, "To protect my family."

"No, you're not. You still have reservations on using your darkness. I can see it in your eyes."

"I may not want to cross that line, but I don't want to see you hurt my family even more. Kin may mean nothing to you but to the Hocamli family is everything! And if standing up means I draw my last breath, so be it."

My Keyblade then grew bright, and before my eyes changed form. Due to it getting longer it managed to hit Mortem under the chin. Now it looked like a quarterstaff with pulsating colors and a top shaped like a heart symbol I've seen throughout these worlds.

I couldn't help but look at it with awe.

Mortem rubbed his chin as stared at my new weapon. "So you unlocked Keyblade Transformation as well…" Holding his Keyblade up, he asked me, "Can you use it though?"

"Let me train her." Jason said as he stood up. I tried to speak, but he just gave me a look. "Only my face is damaged, cuz. The rest of me is fine." Turning to Mortem, he said, "Let me work with her. Next time, she'll be a worthy opponent for you."

Mortem paused for a moment, as if contemplating whether or not to accept my cousins terms. "All right. Show me on Agrabah." With that, his berserker state ceased. "She better get stronger. It would be a waste to have so few worthy opponents." Leroy rushed to his side as he opened a dark portal.

"Wait, Mortem!" called Kairi.

He paused as he looked back at her. "What is it?"

"You don't have to do any of this," she said. "Please, let us help you. We can find another way together."

The dark warrior then turned toward the princess. "And why should even entertain such a useless gesture? I could just try to take your heart and be done with it. Why would you of all people want to help me? What do you get out of it besides me not taking your heart?"

"I help someone who needs help. Isn't that enough?"

Mortem stared at her for a moment. Then he clutched his head in slight pain again. "Why...Why is it that every time I look at you, I am haunted by _her_?" He growled as he pointed his finger at her. "Mark my words, Keyblade Princess! You similarities to _her_ won't stop me forever! Your heart will be mine!" And with that he and Leroy entered the portal, which closed soon after.

* * *

Later, I was waiting outside of a medical wing in the castle while I looked at my Keyblade in its staff form. It was so beautiful, but would it be useful? Now that I unlocked this ability it could mean I would get stronger in Mortem's eyes, but would it really help? I had to let out my darkness to stop him, and there was still a part of me that regretted doing that. Still, I saved my cousin's life and that was all that would matter. I wouldn't have to return home to explain to Aunt Joan why her son was dead.

But what could I do with this staff that I couldn't do before? What powers did it have that I was supposed to be worthy of despite not feeling so? Wait. Wasn't doubt supposed to be a form of darkness? If so, then I wouldn't let my insecurities rule me. I would rise above them and show everyone, even myself, that I would be worthy of the Hocamli tribe.

The door then opened and Aerith stepped out. "Clair." She told me softly.

"Is Jason okay?" I asked her as I dismissed my weapon.

With a nod, she explained, "He's fine. We were able to stop the bleeding, but… I think Ansem should tell you." She stood aside so their king could come out.

"As Aerith told you we were able to do all that we could. Even with Merlin's magic this wound was inflicted by a Keyblade while its bearer was using dark powers. What I'm trying to say is your cousin will have to carry the scar of that battle for the rest of his life. It is a wound that will never fully heal or fade with time."

* * *

 **I've been wanting to write this moment for a long time. The moment where Jason gets his scar. Originally I was going to have Sephiroth scar him, but then I thought it would make more sense story-wise for Mortem to be the one who did it.**

 **Next part is going to be difficult because I'm trying to figure out how to have Jason and Clair finally have a good experience in Agrabah because so far things haven't been good for them in that world.**


	28. Prepping for the Future

**Sorry for the long wait. I was working at my old job and then my brother came for a visit.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Braxton, Johri, Eini, Gracie, Armon, and all related characters to them belong to Flautist4ever. Speaking of, I credit Flautist4ever as the writer of this chapter. I just helped add a few sentences and words here and there.**

* * *

Chapter 28: Prepping for the Future

BRAXTON'S POV

I waited for the girls to come back from their trip to the restroom while I thought about what we had learned. Something inside me kept screaming that something big was at play. That I'd gotten in over my head. I wanted to convince myself it was just the same anxiety I felt when I first joined the Institute for Neo-Harthyn, but I knew it wasn't.

"You know you're prettier without that sour look on your face."

"Excuse me?" I looked back at Armon, who was still leering at me.

"I'm just saying," he shrugged. Then he looked back at me, "so what do you want to do with your life?"

I looked at him like he'd grown a second head, "Probably nothing you'd like."

"Humor me."

I looked around, searching for the words. After a while, I sighed, "I want to create a fairer system in Netokan. One that works for the benefit of everyone." I left out how it would have been a long shot even before what I had learned today. If Yeller would lie like that to Jason's and Clair's parents- if he would fake recorded evidence to support his lie- what else was he hiding? And what would he do when we inevitably had a political disagreement?

"So you want to be a politician?" Armon yawned, "Better you than me, darling"

"What about you?" I asked, ignoring the darling comment.

"Nothing I can do," Armon replied lazily, "except live vicariously through people who have somewhere to go in life."

That caught me by surprise. "What? But I thought you and Eini-."

"Were a thing? Nope. Look, she's hot if you're into girls, but I never saw the appeal."

"Then what's with the…" I trailed off.

"We've been friends since we were kids," Armon explained, "Rumors started, and we feed them. The reactions are priceless."

"So you're both single, and doing the whole couple thing for… attention?"

"Yep." Armon leaned towards me, "But I'm more interested in you. You want to shake things up in Netokan. Maybe I can help."

Okay, now this was beginning to feel awkward. Thankfully I spotted the girls coming back from cleaning up. "That's very generous of you," I told him diplomatically, "But I need to refine my strategies before I let someone start pulling strings for me."

Armon scooted out of my personal space, realizing he'd been rejected, "If you change your mind, have Eini call me."

"Oof!" Eini exclaimed as she slid into the booth to sit by Armon, "Rejected?"

Armon put an arm around her in a hug, "Nothing unusual."

"So, shall we get going?" I asked. "Those shops aren't going to empty themselves."

That brought a smile to Eini's face. "Now you're talking."

"Just remember we can't get too much otherwise we'll weigh down the shuttle."

"Then buy as much as you can." Armon joked. I fought back a sigh. Was shopping all these two cared about?

"What happened to… the parents?" Gracie asked.

"Gone. They had to take care of other things." I explained, trying to put it delicately.

"... A fee' 'ike we embarashed 'em," Johri commented through a mouthful of food she was trying to finish before we left.

I sighed, "Yes. Yes, we did." Eini looked like she was going to say something, so I added, "We can apologize to them again after the mission. For now, Johri needs tools and clothes."

"You could all use some new threads." Armon smiled at me, but his previously flirtatious tone was gone. "Something more suited to your goals. Follow me, everyone."

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Ugh. I couldn't believe it. I was still gaining height by now? My old measurements were too small- Again! Luckily not enough to make the clothes I had worthless. Just enough so there was enough to see my belly button, which I did not enjoy in public. It felt like people were staring. Maybe they were- I was now taller than Braxton, and Braxton himself seemed to be getting a lot of attention. I watched as he gently rejected the sixth person since we left the restaurant. How was he so diplomatic? Nobody had approached me like that and I already wanted to scream.

Eini, however, seemed to be enjoying the attention. The tailors were already showing her the latest fashion trends, and she kept showing them pairs of clashing garments and asking them to combine them. I cringed at the things she asked them to combine, but they seemed used to her shenanigans.

One lady approached me. "And how may I help you today?"

"Oh, um…" I shrugged, "I need something practical to wear." I sighed, "Actually, I need to replace my whole wardrobe."

The lady's eyes lit up. "Oh, I think we have just the thing. They just came in from Yeller Sciences, but the ad is that no matter how tall you are they will adjust to fit your size."

"What is it?"

Leading me into the back of the store, she showed me a line of garments that looked… Way too small. I looked at her skeptically.

"Why don't you try one on? The changing rooms are right over there." She said, pointing to the left. She walked up to the rack and picked up a simple bodysuit. She handed it to me, so I took it and went to the dressing room. I tried not to check the tag, since I needed clothing and Eini said not to look at prices.

She led me to the largest stall and shut the door behind me. I undressed, sat down, unzipped the bodysuit, and stuck my leg in, not expecting the short leg to make it past my knee. To my surprise, there was a little resistance as I ran out of inseam, and then the suit began to expand. I put it the rest of the way on and looked in the mirror. It fit perfectly. I stretched my hands out, then brought them up- Thump!

"Is everything okay in there, miss?" The saleslady asked.

"Everything's fine," I glanced up. The ceiling had a scuff mark where I'd hit it, "The ceiling might need a little polish though."

I heard her laugh from outside. "You just made my day. Thank you for your concern towards our facilities."

"Uh, no problem," I replied lamely. I took a breath and started twisting around. I bent down to touch my toes, then stuck my arms in front of me and did a squat. I thought about doing some jumping jacks, but a quick glance at the scuff mark on the ceiling changed my mind. Besides, I'd learned enough about this material to make up my mind. The more I moved, the easier moving became. I examined the sleeve, fascinated by whatever Yeller Sciences had invented. The fibers seemed to relax or tense in response to the way I moved my muscles. I looked in the mirror and stretched a few more times, being careful of the ceiling. It didn't look like a second skin, but it _felt_ like one.

I _had_ to learn how this worked! As I switched back into my other clothes, I folded up the outfit I had been trying and stepped outside. "This is incredible!"

"Excellent!" The saleslady exclaimed, leading me back to the sales floor, "We have several other pieces in that line that might interest you." She smiled back at me, "And for everything else, we do in-house tailoring."

* * *

EINI'S POV

How I missed this! How many new fashion lines had I missed while I was in space?

Too many. That's how many.

I spun around in my fitting room, admiring the custom outfit I'd put together. A puffy green jacket over a pink lace and gold sequin blouse that showed just a little bit of skin. I also tied a light blue scarf over a hot pink miniskirt with silver leggings under it. I finished off the look with some gold knee-high boots with wheels in the heels.

It was perfect!

When I stepped out to show everyone, I smiled at Gracie's reaction. She reacted as if I just shone a light in her eyes, staggering backwards until she fell over.

"Darling, you look fantastic!" Armon exclaimed, walking over to high-five me. I made sure he wasn't left hanging as we made it like we were about to kiss.

I pulled away at the last moment, "Gracie, Braxton, why don't you pick something out?"

"Oh, uh… well, it's... " Gracie looked like she was unable to find the right words to answer my question.

"Your kindness is greatly appreciated, but I'm afraid it's too much for me to acquiesce to." Braxton told us.

That made me laugh. "Nonsense. I've got plenty and to spare. I'd have to build an entire continent to even be remotely concerned about my finances."

"And you're okay with blurting that knowledge out loud?" Johri rose an eyebrow.

I just smiled knowingly. My accounts are some of the most protected on the planet, and have been proven to be unhackable with security codes that are updated every millisecond. There's no way I'm losing my money anytime soon. "I insist. It's impossible for this little shopping spree to hurt me."

Reaching over for Gracie, I tried to shove her towards a rack of shirts, "Come on! Pick one out!"

She twisted her arm and slipped out of my hand like it was nothing, "NO!" She then wrapped her arms around her shirt. "No. It's… this was a gift. It's too precious to me."

We all stared at her.

"But… Won't that wear out your shirt faster?" Johri asked, "Wouldn't it make more sense to have a few shirts you don't care about so you can make that one last longer?"

Gracie wilted a little, "I just like this one so much… I feel like I wouldn't be _me_ without it."

I was stunned. The girl only wanted to wear _one_ shirt? Was she crazy?

"Eini," Braxton put his hand on my shoulder, "Maybe if this is that distressing for her, we should back off."

"IT doesn't make sense." I insisted.

Armon, however, smiled. "Okay, I have a deal. We won't get anything for you, Gracie, if we are allowed to get Braxton the most expensive suit this store has."

"Hey, I-"  
"DEAL!" Gracie interrupted.

* * *

BRAXTON'S POV

One moment I'm talking with my friends, the next I'm getting measured for a suit that I won't need for Gri knows how long. By the time I finally would need it, it would be out of style. Sill, it seemed to make everyone happy that I was getting it, especially Eini and Armon.

I couldn't help but wonder though why Gracie reacted the way she did. She'd been acting weird this entire time. But the attention brought to her shirt made me realize: I'd never seen her wear another shirt.

That was _weird._

Why wouldn't she wear another shirt? Somehow the reasons she gave us just didn't make sense. The more I thought about it, the more-.

"Done." The tailors finished getting my measurements.

They entered my measurements into a holo-screen and two mini drones flew over with a suit suspended between them. The head tailor handed it to me, "The changing rooms are over there, sir." I struggled to keep my face neutral. Nobody had ever called me Sir before. It felt weird. But, if I was going to become a high-ranking official, I needed to get used to it.

"Thank you, sir," I replied as I walked to the dressing room, "I trust this will require some adjustments?"

The tailor nodded, "it was chosen to fit your largest measurements, so we'll have to take it in and hem it."

"I'll be right out, then." With that, I stepped into the dressing room. I undressed and started putting on the suit. It was incredibly soft, and the lining breathed well. I took a quick look in the mirror. It fit my chest and shoulders perfectly, but was baggy in the waist and longer in the arms than necessary. The pants were a little too long and loose, again, in the waist.

I stepped out of the room wearing the suit and back onto the platform for the tailors. They immediately started pinning and marking the suit where it would need to be taken in. I couldn't help feeling fascinated by the process. Despite the obscene ease with which robots did everything here, suit fittings were still done by hand.

With all the pins in place, they had me move around a little bit to make sure the fit would be perfect. When they were satisfied, they brought out a small robot. It scanned me, made a whirring noise, and then started circling me. I noticed a little needle and thread that seemed to be floating of its own accord. As it sewed, the pins left the garment and flew into the machine.

Finally, the machine beeped and came to a halt in front of me.

"There. The adjustments have been made." The head tailor admired his work, "What do you think?"

I had to admit, this was incredibly effective. I looked like I belonged in the Board, debating legislation and systemic policies. It made me feel more confident, like I could just stroll through every door that had ever been shut in my face. I couldn't resist turning around to see all sides. "This is perfect."

"See? What did I tell you?" Armon smirked. "Clothes do make the man."

Before I could check the price, Eini apprehended the sales bot. "All expenses shall be covered by me." As she handed the machine her holo-screen, it scanned her finances and gave a beep. "Thank you." She said as payment was accepted before handing a bag to Gracie. "Here. Even if you won't try them on you're still getting something. ANd I won't take no for an answer. You're getting these and that's final. Now, then. Last item of business… ah, yes. More tools for Johri."

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Gri's beak! It was like they had a factory in this mall with all the tools I saw spread out before me. I couldn't help fawning over most of them. They were clearly high-quality items that would be most useful in my engineering endeavours. Luckily I knew exactly what I needed, and all that was left to do was get a set with comfortable grips.

I put my hand in a scanner so proper handles could be made, and while I waited I looked at some of the holo catalogues.

A part caught my eye. It wasn't available for immediate purchase, but it was exactly the piece I needed to turn my communicator into a teleporter… One that could bring Jason and Clair back.

I looked at Eini, "I know we never agreed to this, but I can use that Heisenberg Compensator to turn my communicator into a teleporter."

Braxton gasped, "Then we need to get this."

Eini nodded, "Done." She took out her Holoscreen and began typing something.

"What are you doing?" Gracie asked.  
"Arranging to have it arrive on the Station. They'll be able to put it on the next supply shuttle, which will arrive in about a month."

"A month?!"

"Surely they can survive that long."

Oh, the wait was going to be torture. Still, there was nothing we could do at this point but wait. A beep then came to the scanner from before, drawing my attention back. As I waited a toolset was produced and brought forward to me. I picked one of them up. It felt perfect in my hand. Well-balanced, comfortable to hold. I hoped I could keep these for a long, _long_ time.

"Are these tools to your satisfaction, ma'am?" The robot asked me.

"They're perfect!" I told the bot.

"Then that will be-."

"One moment." Eini pushed me aside. "I'll be paying for those, thank you very much."

She quickly paid for the tools while I admired them some more. It was like they were the missing piece of my hand, and now they were whole. I was going to make so many wonderful inventions with these things. Breakthroughs in technology that could take Harthyn into a new era.

I zoned out, thinking of what I could do between expanding my previous work in prosthetics and my recent foray into physics and large construction. I"ve come so far from just wanting to simply improve artificial limbs for animals and people. Now I was building communicators… no, doors, across parallel worlds. Or at least I will be if I can get that Heisenberg Compensator. Parents of my people, my life has taken a drastic turn since I got accepted into the program.

I liked where my life was going from here.

"You guys wanna hit the hotel for the night?" Eini asked.

Armon gasped, "Eini! I've never known you to end a shopping spree this early!"

Eini looked at her boyfriend, "Sorry. I guess I'm just excited about Johri's teleporter."

"Why?" Armon scrunched his nose, "Teleporters suck. That's why nobody really invests in them."

"Let's just say Johri's working on solving their range problem." Braxton told him, "It could revolutionize logistics on a massive scale. Think of it. Instead of merely being used to lock away prisoners or keep people in safe rooms what if we could just teleport people halfway across the planet? Or even to our space stations or moon bases? It would cut the cost of fuel down "

Armon thought about it, "Alright, I'll bite." He turned to Johri, "If you bring me a working prototype strong enough to teleport a payload from this mall to my summer suite, I'll match whatever Eini invests in it."

Eini giggled, "I think the reveal she has planned will knock your socks off, Darling."

With the purchase of my new tool set our time in the mall was done. As we were leaving, Eini pulled up her holo-screen and made a call. "Hello? Heavenly Towers Hotel? Eini Atrisk here, and I would like to reserve some rooms for tonight. The finest suites you have available. Yes, four of them. All billed to the account code I sent you." Eini rolled her eyes, "Full room service in all of them, for sure." She muted her end of the call, "Anybody want to book a massage?"

We stared blankly at her.

"Personal chef? Brand of snacks in the minibar?" She hovered over the mute button, "Going once. Going twice. Mmmm, your loss." She poked the mute button, "I'll have a deep tissue massage with a vertebrae realignment, complete skincare regimen, full minibar, and a personal chef. Oh, and can I get five bottles of synthetic sleep on the nightstand please?"

I heard Braxton gasp and try to cough quietly at that last part.

Eini looked up, "Hey Brax, would you like a full skincare?" She muted the call again and singsonged, "I think you'd really like it."

"I'll pass this time," He told her, "What do you need five synthetic sleeps for? The highest recommended dose is two!"

"Oh please," Eini brushed him off, "I can't sleep without it. And after these two days I'm gonna need a little extra."

"She's right," Armon backed her up, "This one time I watched her down eight of them on a holocall. Still took an hour to knock her out. She'll probably order like five more before the night's out."

"I'm seriously questioning your life choices," Braxton told her, crossing his arms.

"Ugh, who are you, my doctor? Besides, you never complained about Johri's synthetic energy habit!"  
"Hey, I drink like two a day, not five an hour!" I protested.  
"Whatever," Eini turned back to her holoscreen, "Hi, yes? I'll put a second full skincare down as a maybe." She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged. "Better make that two," She told the person on the other end of the call, "and copy everything but the synthetic sleep for a second room."

"So let me guess, guys in one room, girls in another?" Armon smiled.

Eini dropped her holo-screen and stared at her boyfriend in shock, "Armon, I am appalled. How could you accuse me of being so cheap? Everyone has a room to themselves, obviously!"

"It's hard to tell when they don't ask for anything special in their rooms." He grinned at her. "One would think they'd be sleeping on the ground."

"Hey, have you ever considered it's a little overwhelming having the _option_ to sleep on the ground?" I retorted half-jokingly, "We've been in space for _months!_ "

"Yeah," Gracie added, "Give us a break!"

Armon held up his hands defensively, "Alright, alright. No need to get so worked up, darlings."

"I'll call you before I leave tomorrow." Eini promised him. "Might be a while before we see each other again."

"You'd better," Armon told her, giving her a hug, "And you'd also better tell me when you're coming back again. We have so much to do." He pulled back and clasped her hands, "And I'm going to miss my best friend."

Once they were done they stepped out in front of the Heavenly Towers Hotel. My jaw just dropped at the sight because it was one of the most beautiful buildings I had ever seen. Four decorative towers extended out from each corner, with a spire reaching up taller than the rest. Intricate markings reminiscent of the ancient Hocamli symbols were also etched into building's exterior that gave it a sense of ancient beauty. Even though it was less than half a century old it felt like it was here since the dawn of time. "Just how expensive is it to reserve rooms here?"

"Couple million gerons." Braxton opened his mouth, but Eini held up a hand, "No refunds."

"Aren't you worried about expenses?"

"For the last time, I'm good." She stepped forward and was immediately surrounded by attendants who took her bags and began to escort her to the door, "Now come on and have some fun. It's our last night planetside for a while!"

* * *

EINI'S POV

Phew. That was some party I threw, but it was worth it. Any celebration on the station was incredibly dull. I mean come on. You'd think the world's greatest mind could think of better ways to have fun.

Like this.

"Another sip, please," I said. An attendant held my drink towards me and I took a sip from the straw while my masseuse dug into the knot I'd developed in my shoulders from actually having to work on the station. Two other attendants were hard at work on my hands and fixing the utter mess the station had made of my nails. There was only so much I could do to keep them in line, after all, and Yeller had made me cut them short! _What kind of monster-_

"Is everything to your liking, miss?" The attendant who was holding my drink asked, interrupting my thoughts.

"Everything's perfect," I replied, leaning back to help the masseuse work out that knot, "It's been far too long is all." I sighed, "So much better than being in space."

"What's it like in space?" A third attendant, one who I guessed was the one working on my right hand, asked.

I sighed again, "The view is okay, I guess. Mostly Yeller just works us to the bone and it's incredibly dull." I paused, then hung my head a little, "Okay, he works the others to the bone, but I'm completely useless up there."

"Surely that's not true!" The attendant protested. I heard the others stop in shock.

"You're new, aren't you?" I asked her, not outwardly reacting.

I felt the girl start to panic and another attendant chimed in, "Courtney, remember your place!" I felt someone start working more aggressively on my left hand, "I'm so sorry, miss! She's still in training, but it looks like we'll have to let her go."

"That won't be necessary," I replied, turning back to Courtney, as everyone tensed again, "You seem quite interested in the space program, Courtney."

The girl hesitated, "I… applied." When she spoke again, her voice was sad, "Eight times. They told me they were too full and my academics weren't enough to make the cut even if they were still accepting applicants."

On a hunch, I made a decision, "May I look at Courtney's work?"

Someone took the anti-puff treatment off my eyes and I looked at the nails on my right hand. They were bright, glittery, and elaborately painted just as I asked, and the fine lines were fabulously crisp. I looked at the nails on my left hand. They were also done just as I asked, but the lines were slightly less crisp, and there were a couple places where the glitter was ever-so-slightly uneven. It was a minimal difference, but Courtney clearly had the better work.

I looked back at Courtney, "Well, if you did as well in school as you did with my nails, maybe I should ask Yeller to reconsider your placement."

"Oh, thank you!"

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

When Eini said she loved to spend her money and live in style, she wasn't kidding. I had the massive, luxurious room to myself. There was a holoscreen by the bed with a menu of things Eini had ordered for me to enjoy, like massages and spa treatments. It was tempting, but I had one thing on my mind first…

I walked over to the minibar and pulled out some snack foods, took them over to the table by the bed, and pulled out my holoscreen. I took a deep breath and called my parents.

"Johri?" My mom's voice answered before her face popped up on the screen. I saw her reach back and drag my dad into view, "Jothi! Get up!" She looked at me mischievously and added, "Our firstborn requests our council."

"Very well, Nalina," My dad replied in a goofy overly-ceremonious voice, "Let us commence council of kin."

I snorted, "It's good to see you're both okay."

Dad raised an eyebrow, "Of course we're okay. Why wouldn't we be?"

"I heard about the earthquake." I told them, not bothering to hide how worried I was when I learned about the event, "We live in the middle of everything, so I thought-"

"We were very well-protected," Mom told me, "But you owe us an explanation, young lady."

I tensed, "What is it, Mom?"

"You're not allowed to contact us from the station." She scolded me, "What did we tell you about breaking rules that are there for your safety?"

"I'm not on the station." I admitted, "That's… actually part of why I called…"

Dad's nose wrinkled in disgust and he turned to Mom, "See? I told you she'd end up getting kicked out. She's too brilliant for Yeller's mediocre a-"

"I haven't been kicked out, Dad!" I reassured them, "But you know how we never figured out how I stayed so short?"

My parents gasped and hugged each other, "PAST TENSE! Baby, did you finally grow?"

I nodded, "Six-foot-five. I can't explain it, but I needed some new clothes and…" I sighed, "I finally outgrew the toolset you guys gave me…"

"Hey, don't sweat it!" Dad told me, "You grew! That's the important thing."  
"How did you pay for your new clothes?" Mom asked, "We didn't send you any money."

"One of my new friends is the Ashburnham-Krista heiress," I told them, "And it turns out she's a total shopaholic. I never want to look at another mall as long as I live." I paused, "Okay, not unless I'm building it. On the moon."

"Well," Dad turned to Mom, "She's still herself."

Mom chuckled, "We're proud of you, Johri."

"Thanks, guys."

My mother's expression then turned serious. "Oh, there was someone here the other day. They said they were looking for you."

"Who were they?"

"They didn't say. Must've been one of those kaiju worshipping wackos because they said something about Fushicho."

"The 'guardian' of our ancestral homeland? The most beautiful kaiju ever to live? Whose feathers are supposed to be made of pure light?" I asked. "Why? Has she appeared or something?"

"Yes. Grandma, Grandpa, and our cousins all sent photos and videos of her protecting their city from the aftermath of the earthquake."

"But why would a Kaiju worshipper show up on _our_ door? Fushicho showed up all the way across the planet!"

Dad just shrugged. "I don't know. He was rambling a lot, but it sounded like they were saying to leave the stone alone."

That made no sense whatsoever. "What stone?"

"Like I said, they were crazy." Mom insisted. "Listen, just be careful. If there's anything you need, talk to us. We're here for you and love you no matter what."

"I love you too." I smiled at them and held my holoscreen closer. "And I can't wait to get to see you again. There's a lot I want to tell you about, but…" I fished for an excuse for a moment, "But most of what we do on the Station has a gag order on it."

"You look really tired," My dad observed, "Are you at least getting enough sleep?"

I froze, debating what to say. "We stay super busy up there," I said at last, "and I've been having some weird dreams…"

Mom looked over at Dad, "...Baby, are you sure you're okay up there? Do you want us to ask for you to come home?"

"What? No, I'll be fine!" I tried to reassure them, "I promise!"

"Are you sure?" Dad asked.  
"I'm sure, Dad."

"Okay, if you're sure." With one final look, Mom asked, "Just promise you'll call if you can."

"I will. Love you both."  
"We love you too."

* * *

BRAXTON'S POV

Well, this had certainly been an interesting trip. Not only did we manage to get more supplies for the station, but we've learned more about that strange event. A massive earthquake that both the planet and space felt on the same day we lost Jason and Clair? Not to mention the parents were told a different story from us? Something just wasn't adding up.

I couldn't shake this feeling of dread.

I paced around the luxurious room Eini had gotten for me, and all I could do was wonder if I could keep everyone safe. If I could keep _anyone_ safe.

Which begged the question of what would happen if I couldn't.

I sighed, remembering what Mom had told me when I told her I was going into politics: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. I felt like I was caught in some sort of tangled web and I couldn't find a way out. Maybe if I talked to someone I could get some perspective.

* * *

GRACIE'S POV

I had to admit this was an incredible room. Eini really spared no expense in making sure we would all sleep in comfort. I was a little worried I might not wake up if I fell asleep in my bed.

There was a beeping next to my mirror as I saw Spinster had returned. "Thanks for altering the security footage. Now I can slip into something more comfortable." With that I took off my shirt, and watched my reflection change with the feeling of water washing away the disguise. Gone was the awkward klutz, and here was my true self. I was much more muscular than Gracie, with darker skin, shorter, darker hair, and darker eyes. There was one more thing that was missing. I reached into a hidden pocket in my dress and pulled out a necklace. I slipped it on over my head and looked at the pendant. It was one-half of a two-part pendant. I hadn't worn it since last Starlight...

The image in the mirror grew blurry and tears rolled down my cheeks. Through the blurriness, it was easy to imagine the person who gave me the pendant standing beside me. Kenneth would have been as handsome as ever. Still the man who wanted to make Harthyn better for everyone. The only other person I ever told I was Morugan. I had been afraid it would drive him away from me, but it brought us closer instead.

I sat down on the bed, letting my tears fall. Because he was gone, now, and it was my fault. And I couldn't even tell his family the truth.

I shuddered, remembering how I kept Eini from telling another family the truth about their lost loved ones.

A horrible thought crossed my mind.

What if we failed? Johri was so brilliant, and Braxton was so inspiring that it was easy to believe we would bring our missing colleagues back. I was so certain their families would be able to learn the truth from them, themselves, that I had no problem keeping it from them for the time being.

But if we didn't bring Jason and Clair back… there would be another grieving family I'd be responsible for. And while I've done lots of things, that was not something else I could have on my conscience.

Creeeak…. "Gracie? Can we talk?"

Oh worbazz...

I slowly glanced to the side and saw Braxton staring at me from my door

* * *

BRAXTON'S POV

I blinked, backed out of the room, and double-checked the number. This was Gracie's room. I looked for the record of guests in or out. Only one. Me. Gracie herself hadn't left the room. The window fields were up and opaque and had been for the entirety of the room's occupancy.

I remembered hearing about a series of prototype clothes that could change the wearer's appearance, down to their DNA.

Part of me knew that, with the impossible eliminated, what remained- which had at least a little plausibility- had to be the truth. But I couldn't accept it. Gracie wasn't Morugan, and the spy was probably still onboard the station. _Spying_. There was no way I had been working with a Downtrod agent for the past several months, right?

I reentered the room knocked on the foyer wall to allow the room's occupant privacy, "I'm so sorry for walking in, but have you seen my friend? This is supposed to be her room."

The Morugan girl stepped into view, wearing one of the shirts Eini had bought for Gracie. She looked defeated.

"Braxton, it's me." She looked up at me, " _I'm_ Gracie."

My jaw dropped. "Y-you're Morugan? B-but how- how?"

"You know how difficult Morugans have it here. Ever since the teroi bomb wiped out our country the survivors have been treated like a lesser species. I had to change how I looked to get away from all that."

I let out a terse laugh, "Well, I guess I can't blame you for that, right?" I knew I was still in denial, but the next words out of my mouth were, "You really had me worried. I almost thought you were the Downtrod Spy."

"There's a Downtrod spy on board?"

"Of course. Who else would've sabotage the station so our friends were locked outside?"

"But why would the Downtrod trap them outside?" Gracie asked.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Why _wouldn't_ they? I think it's pretty obvious they're after their own ends regardless of who they hurt."

She looked down, "They definitely have a bad track record…" She looked back up at me, "But how could they have known about the Spacequake?"

"Why would they have needed to?"  
"To get rid of Jason and Clair, right?" She began to pace, "Whoever locked them out had to have known about the Spacequake and what it would do, and there's no way the Downtrod could have known…"

That was a good point. How could a group of rebels and terrorists have known about something that had never happened before in all of recorded history? The odds were next to impossible. I looked at her, "Well, maybe whoever locked them out just meant to let them die in space." I put my hand on my chin, "But if that were the case, perhaps you had a point when you asked about their motive… You don't think Jason or Clair found out who the spy was, do you?"  
"They never had a clue," She replied a little too confidently, "I mean, they probably had no idea. Wouldn't they have warned us about the spy once we got back in communication with them?"

"Yeah, you're right." I nodded. "Then why else would someone lock them outside the station?"  
"I think I have an idea how we could find out." She said. "I'm in charge of data and accounting, and Yeller did implement a tracking system to keep track of where everyone was on the station. If I could get access to that date and time, we might be able to rule out a few names."

"Isn't that illegal?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She raised an eyebrow back at me, "Isn't catching whoever did this to Jason and Clair worth breaking a few dozen laws? Besides, it's not like we're completely above-board as it is. I'm using a falsified identity and Johri's about to build an unverified teleporter with intent to transport human matter without a licensed inspection."

I sighed, "Okay, but we need to be careful about this. We don't just need to know who locked them out. We'll need motive, too."

"I guess you're right." She said. "So how would we find that out? And what would we do if they knew about the… the you-know-what? Where our friends ended up?"

"We'll worry about that when we get there. First we need to know the who and the why before we worry about the what."

She nodded, "I suppose."  
"Now, we should both get some rest. Traveling to space will require all our energy." As I turned to leave, I looked back at her. "And I promise I won't say a word about you being Morugan. My family always felt what happened to your people was wrong, so I won't create any potential problems."

She put her hand over her chest and closed her eyes, "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

I smiled at her, "If you ever need a friend, you know where to look." As I closed the door, I turned to return to my room only to see someone dressed in black running around the corner. "Hey, you! Stop!" I ended up running after the person, but when I turned the corner I saw a figure in a black cloak standing there. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

The figure didn't answer, but held out a hand like they were telling me to stop. As I watched, a cluster of… of shadows?!... gathered into their palm, forming a dark orb. They pulled their hand back, and the orb flew at me! With a curse I had to throw myself to the floor while it sailed over me, crashing into the wall and leaving a scorch mark. As I turned around, I found the person had vanished, with nothing but a few wisps of shadow where they had just stood.

* * *

 **And with that this team's trip to Harthyn is just about wrapped up. I did try to use this to set up the main antagonist who will be revealed soon. I should have another chapter ready soon. Like I said before, just one more arc before the Final Mix of Journey of Discovery is completed, and I am so excited about what's coming in the future.**


	29. Learning to stand

**Not as much as in the last chapter, but I figured I may as well.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts and/or Disney.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Special thanks for the help with Mortem's POV.**

 **Special thanks to AquaStormfall and TheGoodandTheBadXBoy for helping me write this. And special thanks to Flautist4ever for writing the fight. I'm sorry I couldn't figure it out myself.**

* * *

Chapter 29: Learning to stand

MORTEM'S POV

I must be getting soft. Allowing that girl to live just because she finally learned how to transform her Keyblade? After seeing her be nothing but a coward who was unworthy of her weapon? This is why I needed to make sure I got the hearts of the princesses as quickly as possible, so I can…

Wait. What would I do after I succeeded in my mission? After I got my memories back? What purpose would I have after all seven lights were captured? And what if I didn't like who I used to be? No, I couldn't let such weak thoughts cloud my judgement. I would get my past back even if it killed me.

As Leroy and I walked through the corridors of darkness I opened up into the familiar area of the laboratory. Cosmos, I still remember when I first came to here, how I attacked the person who put me in one of those tanks only to be restrained by mechanical arms. I still remember hearing him explain how I was found in space and was lucky to be alive, and how he gave me a purpose.

"Why are we back?" Leroy asked. "Shouldn't we be heading to Agrabah?"  
"Just need to… hold on." I motioned for Leroy to duck under a table with me because my so-called rescuer was not alone. He was standing with someone else in a black cloak, and he seemed to be receiving a report. Maybe I could learn something he wasn't telling me.

"You're absolutely sure?" He asked the smaller figure, who nodded in confirmation.

"No doubt about it. They're trying to build a device to bring Jason and Clair back. And Braxton is suspicious. He thinks there's a spy on board, and has tampered with the station the day of the Spatial Tremor. The day we found Mortem."

So they found me on the day those two were cast out of their world?  
The figure tensed up underneath his obscure figure. "No. We cannot afford them to get too close to the truth. If they knew I had contact with Master Xehanort… do they know about other worlds?"  
"Yes. I believe they found a way to establish communication with Jason and Clair, and who knows how far their network spreads."

"Then the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee must be involved too. If they tell them that they were in contact with me then I am ruined. I've already lied about the fate of Candidates Seven and Thirteen. I must come up with an alibi in case those two come back before they can serve as vessels for the Neo-Thirteen."

"There's more. Gracie's not who she says she is. She's a Morugan."

"A what?!" He smashed several projects when he flipped over a table. "A filthy Morugan on my station? I knew I should've ordered any survivors to be terminated after the teroi bomb wiped their country off the map." Taking a breath, he then asked, "Anything else?"

"Braxton saw me, and I had to attack him. But I was wearing this cloak as instructed so he doesn't know it was me."

The leader then nodded. "Good. But it seems that we must take measures to make sure our plans are not ruined." Going to his computer, he inserted one of those UFO-shaped things into the drive. Once he was done with the data he took it out and handed it to his lackey. "Take this to the security grid near the launch site. It will disable the anti-kaiju wall to allow one of those monsters into the city. Undoubtedly it will head for the crash site, and we'll see if the other three are worthy of the Neo-Thirteen."

As the smaller figure took the device, they then said, "Sir, many people will die in the rampage."

"A small price to pay to eliminate the monsters in the long run. Thankfully people will just think there was a system error. Even with my brilliance it happens. There will be nothing to label us as saboteurs. Now go. And make sure Mortem keeps to his mission too while I check on the status on Project Romero."  
"Yes, Doctor Madsane." AS the figure left I just looked at Leroy. Just what was that all about? This guy was in contact with the man Sora defeated? Why did I find that fact unsettling? I didn't know what a Morugan was, so I had no what his problem with them was. But now this guy was willing to sabotage a defense system, allow a giant monster to rampage a city, killing insignificant bystanders, just to test out candidates for whatever this Neo-Thirteen was? Seems awfully excessive, even for me. Something about the fact that he was risking innocent lives in such a deceptive manner just didn't sit well with me. But why? What was a bunch of weak, insignificant lives anyway? They had nothing to do with me, and this was none my business. And that doctor, Madsane as he's called... Something about him now just fueled my hatred for some reason, and something told me it wasn't only about the doctor himself. It was like... something about him reminded me of someone else.

And as if to answer my unspoken question, I felt a sting in my head and a vision popped into my head. It was a still image of a man in a lab coat. Another scientist perhaps? His face was a blur aside from a crazed grin, but I could see his spiky hair, blond with brown streaks. I think this guy was with that group I remembered I used to work with. Something about just the sight him made my blood boil. Then, I heard a voice.

 _"A true scientist stops at nothing to achieve results."_

 _"Moral restrictions are for the weak minded."_

 _"It is only through madness, that one's mind can reach their true potential."_

Then that still image changed to where the man's right arm mutated into a grotesque red claw, a sight that suddenly made my left arm twitch uncontrollably.

 _"If I can push the boundaries of evolution, then I will gladly accept the madness!"_

And with that, I was snapped back into reality. Who the heck was that, anyway? And why did I feel so much hatred toward him?

My arm was still twitching and as I looked at it, it was also emitting red electricity. I grabbed my arm and after a few seconds it all stopped. Just what was that all about? Why did my arm go a little nuts for a second? Come to think of it, I remember my arm twitching and emitting red lightning in that last battle against those Keyblade Meddlers, when I activated Dark Frenzy. What was going on with me?

"What's wrong?" asked Leroy.

I struggled to answer. "I don't know. That doctor is...reminding me of someone I apparently despise."

"So now what?"

"We head to Agrabah and wait for those two to get there. If they beat me, which I doubt, I will tell them what we learned."

* * *

JASON'S POV

Scrooge had been horrified when we saw what had happened while he took care of his business. Still I insisted I was fine to travel, though Merlin insisted we get in some more training before we left. So I had gone back to the pocket dimension where I had been switching out between Roxas, Ven, Riku, Sora, even Terra came by to help me get better.

I could feel myself getting stronger. I could hold my own against both Terra and Riku for longer periods of time, and I had unlocked new abilities of some of my other Keyblades. As I leapt back from Terra's next lunge I activated the power of the Divine Way. It changed into a boat like Moana's and water inexplicably appeared underneath. As I pulled the boat this way and that way it would change direction accordingly, and I could cause waves of water to surge out to attack from all sides. It was actually quite useful.

Once the special ability was done, I looked over at my current teachers who were soaked to the bone. Maybe I overdid it a bit this time, but it felt so good to do. As some towels appeared out of nowhere to let them dry off, Riku faced me. "You've gotten a lot stronger, Jason. Not just in your abilities but in your heart."

"Not sure how that works, but thanks."

Shaking his head at me, Terra explained. "What he means is you've learned to care for others, to put them ahead of yourself. If it was up to me, I'd have you take an exam to show the Mark of Mastery."

"The Mark of Mastery? What's that?"

"It's a sign that you've matured enough as a Keyblade bearer to be seen as a master." Riku explained. "Everyone has to perform a test to show that they have mastered their Keyblade and their hearts."

"I don't think I'm ready for such a test."

The Keyblade master gave a nod. "Maybe not, but you may be ready for this." He then handed Jason a keychain with a red heart on a playing card in the center. "I picked this up in Wonderland, but with all that was going on I wanted to wait and see if you could mature as a Keyblade bearer. Now I've seen you have, so it may help you when you face Mortem."

"I just hope we can stop him from getting another heart."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

"Firaga!" I was amazed at how much stronger my spells were now. The time spent here with Aqua had been really helpful, as I could feel all my spells had been maxed out, but would it be enough? Even with my new staff, I was afraid that I would fail to prove anything to Mortem. And what if I failed to control my own darkness? Maybe I was overthinking things.

"Good. Now, show me the power of cold." Aqua instructed me while Kairi watched nearby. Focusing on the spell, I cried out, "Blizzaga!" And watched as one of the trees was frozen solid from my spell. Smiling, I then cast, "Thundaga!", calling a bolt of lightning that split the tree in half.

"I think training in here has been good for you." Kairi smiled as she handed me an elixir. Accepting it from her, I took a sip while thinking about what she said. My spells have improved a great deal since I tore down the curse I put on myself. Still, I couldn't help but wonder if I could get strong enough to face Mortem even with the ability to transform my Keyblade. Guess there was only one way to find out, and I wasn't looking forward to it. I let out a sigh as I felt my energy replenish after finishing the elixir. "Wonder how Jason is handling the scar." I thought out loud while I pulled out the keychain with the red feather from Never Land.

Kairi paused when I said this, giving me a look of sympathy. "You're going to have to ask him when you spar with him."

"I… I don't think I'm ready to see him." I still felt guilty about locking my darkness away, and I couldn't forgive myself even though my cousin said it wasn't my fault. Of course I still blamed Mortem for his hand.

"I know it's not easy, but it's going to get more difficult the longer you wait."

"You should listen to her." A voice said from my shoulder, making me raise an eyebrow. Looking down I saw Jiminy sitting there. "I came to give you some advice because it looks like you could use some. Clair, everyone knows you're hurting inside, and it is easy to become focused on what you did wrong. But you recognized what you did was wrong and did what you could to make it right. Part of life is learning to accept that all of us have light and darkness inside."

I wish I didn't have to accept the darkness in my heart especially after what happened. He won't blame me, but I am partially responsible for Jason's scar. It reminded me of how I wasn't there for Jessica.

* * *

Four Years Ago…

As I sat in the cafeteria I looked around for any sign of my friend, but I couldn't see Jessica anywhere. Sighing, I thought about what had happened to them. Ever since Mrs. Eva passed away from a heart attack things have been difficult for my friend and Mr. Jenkins. They were upset that a rescue robot couldn't get to her in time, and I had been unable to cheer my friend up. It just felt like losing her mother was pulling her away from me.

She barely spoke to me anymore, and had become cold to the other students. I know she tended to be sarcastic, but now she was harshly logical instead of how I remembered her. Why did I think that of her? Maybe I should try speaking to her again.

Someone then tapped me on my shoulder and I turned expecting to see someone ducking away. "Hey Clair." Jessica stood there with her lunch.

"Hi, Jessica," I greeted before asking with reservation, "Are you okay?" Instead of answering me she just stared off into the distance. "Wanna sit here? If you don't min-" Before I could finish my sentence, Jessica just silently took a seat next to me. I tried to start up a conversation with her, but she never responded. I didn't know what to do since she just refused to speak. It felt like there was now a wall between us. "Should I find somewhere else to eat?"

"No. You can stay." Unsure of what to say to Jessica's words I remained where I was and we ate in silence until she finally spoke. "Clair… I'm sorry. There's a lot going on in my life and… please don't feel like you're responsible for what happened."

"Uh… okay…"

Turning to me, she continued. "I mean it, Clair. You're a good person, but too often I see you try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. Bad things happen in life, but that doesn't mean you put the blame on you."

"It's just so hard when we don't laugh or smile like we used to." I told her.

"That's a fact of life. Things change, and it's not always for the better. Sometimes the only thing you can do is nothing."

"Are you saying sometimes I shouldn't even try?"

"It's okay to try, but there are just some things you can't change."

I had wanted to make her feel better, but all I had accomplished at lunch was getting another lecture. I know it has been four years, but I was sure she was still concerned about me. Yet, she refused to reveal her feelings. Wasn't there anything I could do to help my friend? I hated to admit it, but I was lost in this with no way out.  
I then felt something shove me from behind. "Watch it, Bookworm."

With a gasp I fell to the floor, but the pain wasn't something new. I had come to associate it with a certain someone. "Jezebel. Don't you have anything better to do?"

The best I got from her was a sneer. "Yeah I do. How about teach a half-breed that she doesn't belong here?" Jezebel spat.

As I got back to my feet, I did my best to hold back the tears. "When did Gri put you above him?"

"Gri? Oh, please." She scoffed. "Relying on that old fairy to determine a moral code? Just shows how pathetic you truly are."

"My grandfather said-."  
"Exactly. Your grandfather said with no proof. Science has proven that the world is ten times older than what the stupid religions say, and we have evidence that we evolved through natural selection. No one has ever seen the stupid griffin, so he's not real."

"You've only got a problem with that because of your lack of imagination." I heard Jessica say. Looking down the hall I saw my friend standing there with a crowd of students while my tormentor growled at her.

"What?"

"You heard me. You lack the ability to think of a higher power, so you diss on the idea as well as those who believe. So say whatever you want, cause there's no point to your narrow-minded view." Jessica's words caused some of the students to make taunting noises at the bully.

With a growl Jezebel ran towards my friend only to end up flat on her back with the skin around her left eye beginning to darken while my friend wiped her fist on her jacket. Goodness, she really went and punched her. I smiled at my friend in gratitude, but she just gave me a look that made me feel ashamed. Turning back to the bully she added, "Next time keep your opinions to yourself."

"What's going on here?" THe voice of a teacher caused the students to disperse. "Were you two fighting?"

"Desperate self-defense." Jessica said without missing a beat, but it was clear on the senior's face that my friend's lie didn't fall on believing ears.

My bully, however, was able to turn it around. "She attacked me without provocation. You can see I have a black eye, and I'm sure she cracked my skull."

"If only. You shoved my friend and tried to ruin her views because you're too stupid to have them."

"And you're making accusations without proof!"

"At least I don't have to play the victim."

"Enough." The teacher gave his verdict. "Detention for both of you."

I noticed Jezebel hid a smirk at that while Jessica looked at me. The look on her face… it melted me because I knew she expected more of me and I let her down. All she said was, "Take care of yourself now." With that she and Jezebel followed the teacher to detention while I looked down in shame.

* * *

Present day…

It was my fault, she had to pay the price for standing up for me. If I had just spoken up and taken her side she might've kept talking to me. Because of me she had to suffer for something that she shouldn't have had to. I wish there was a way to make it right for her when I got back home, but she hasn't spoken to me since that day. Would she now?

"Clair?" The conscience asked me.

Snapping out of my past I looked down at Jiminy. "Huh?"

"You zoned out for a moment. Is everything okay?"

"... It's nothing." I told him, not ready to admit how I was feeling. "We should probably go find Jason."

With my friends nodding in agreement, we began walking to where he should've been training. I wish he wouldn't push himself after that last duel, but he was a different person now. He seemed like someone who had found their purpose, and was determined to make the most out of it. I just hope he didn't kill himself to do it.

We eventually found him in a clearing, sitting on a rock. He was looking at us expectantly. It made me uneasy. Riku and Terra were standing closer to us, at the clearing's entrance. I couldn't read either of their faces.

I looked at Aqua, who nodded towards Jason. I started walking in his direction. Behind me, I heard Kairi and Aqua greet Scrooge and walk over by Terra and Riku. I refocused on my cousin. His expression made me hesitate. The way the bandages over his scar twisted as he looked at me sent a chill down my spine. That was never going to heal. I still wasn't sure I'd ever get used to it.

I swallowed, "Jason?"

He stood up and- HOLY GRI ABOVE!

His attack nearly took my head off. He took another swing. I dove to the side.

"No, lassies. They hafta do this."

I looked over and saw Terra and Scrooge holding Aqua and Kairi back.

"WHAT?!" I blocked another attack, but the force brought me to the ground, "NO! HELP ME!"  
"Fight me, Clair!" Jason narrowed his eyes, forcing me further to the ground, "Fight like your life depends on it!"

"Why?!" I rolled to the right and staggered onto my feet. He charged at me again. I blocked, tripping over myself trying to back up fast enough.

He lunged.

"STOP!" I shot the spell at him and ran as far as I could before it wore off. He skidded but kept laser-focused on me. "BARRIER!" He collided with the spell and reeled.

"You can't hide behind spells forever, Clair!" He glared at me once he regained his senses. He paced like a tiger as he waited for the barrier to wear off, "If you don't toughen up, Mortem _will_ kill you." His fearsome expression softened, "And I can't be your shield forever."

The barrier faded and he kicked me in the gut. It took too long for me to hit the ground. I coughed and gasped for breath. "H-He-elp me!" I choked out.

Strong hands grabbed under my shoulders and lifted me up. "Dig deep," Riku's voice instructed as I got my vision back, "Find the power inside you."

He pushed me back into the clearing. Jason kept swinging and I kept blocking.

His Keyblade glowed and dissolved into an orb of light. The orb split in two, covering his hands.

Oh, crap!

Jason swung at me with his Power Gauntlets. I shoved his head down and flipped over him. The tingle of electricity as I flew over his head told me that as too close.

I landed. Pain shot up my ankle. Jason lunged at me again. Tears welled up, blurring my vision.

"BLIZZAGA!" I shouted, freezing my cousin solid. I took a breath and stepped backwards, testing my ankle.

The ice cracked. Jason burst out of it, and his Power Gauntlets shifted again. He swung at me with a spiked ball.

Pain sliced through my arm. I swung at him with my Keyblade, and it flashed mid-swing. When the light faded, it was a staff. The name Arcane Conduit flashed across my mind as a magically charged strike flashed across my cousin's chest.

He staggered back, his face was shocked by my attack. Then he swung at me again. I twisted Arcane Conduit and wrapped the chain of the spiked ball around it. I yanked as hard as I could. The ball flew across the clearing and dissolved into light. I lunged forward and struck Jason center mass.

He hit the ground laughing. "Good! That was very good!" He let out some more breathy laughs as he got up, "Keep fighting like that, you might stand a chance!"

"Please tell me we can stop now," I stepped back as he summoned his Keyblade again, "I don't want to fight you."

Jason frowned. "Clair, sooner or later, you'll have to stand up for yourself. If you can't stand up for yourself against me, how'll you stand against anyone else? Against Mortem?"

I opened my mouth to respond.

"Give it a rest for today, Jason," Terra interrupted, "You can't force her to be ready when she isn't." He put a hand on my shoulder, but I looked down at my feet, "When the time comes, she'll step up."

I wasn't so sure. I glanced up at Jason. He wasn't, either.

And we both knew what would happen if I failed. Again.

There was a flash of light and a clicking sound. A door had appeared in the middle of the clearing.

"Looks like Yen-Sid wants to speak to you," Kairi observed.

Jason and I nodded. Scrooge joined us, and we walked through the door. However when we entered the other side I was shocked to see we weren't in the Mysterious Tower, but a massive library. The shelves of books seemed to reach as tall as the skyscrapers of Netokan. I had to pinch myself to make sure I hadn't died and gone to heaven.

My cousin wasn't so enthusiastic. "What the heck? This isn't where Yen Sid lives. Where in Gri's name are we?"

"You are in my library." A deep and smooth voice answered as we saw a figure approach. Hey, was it… no it wasn't Merlin. He didn't have the same accent and everything about him was different. True he did have a long white beard but they looked more like… huh? Rolled up pages? He did have a blue robe on, but underneath were a series of white robes that almost looked like the pages of a book. In his hand he carried a staff that looked more like a rolled up scroll with a planet carved at the top.

"Who are ye? Where's Master Yen Sid?" Scrooge asked.

The figure didn't seem the least bit intimidated by him or my cousin. "I am the Pagemaster. Keeper of the books and guardian of the written word."

I liked the sound of that.

Clearing his throat, my cousin said, "Look, Mr. Pagemaster. It was nice meeting you but can you please tell us where we can find Master Yen Sid?"

"This way." The Pagemaster gestured down a section of the neverending labyrinth of shelves. "Fiction A to Z! Where all is possible!" As he spoke a page appeared in his hand. "The place where a child's imagination can take root and grow to incredible heights!" As he spoke the Pagemaster tossed his page into the air and…

Whoa! It turned into a giant that marched off with steps that shook the place. It wasn't as large as a kaiju, but it was still a sight to behold. Looking at our guide, I found myself asking, "But we aren't children. So what does this have to do with us?"

"You are never too old to revisit the worlds through the eyes of your youth." He said as a strange wooden ship with a dragon's head carved from the helm appeared and rowed over us in the air. "In the realm of fiction, one's courage is the wind that moves to discovery!"

"Hey. Where'd the door go?" Scrooge's words caused us to turn and see the door we had come in was no longer there. Turning to the wizard, as I was sure that was what the Pagemaster was, the old duck pointed his cane at him. "Send us back right now before I shove yer pages down yer throat!"

With a smile, the Pagemaster pointed down the fiction section. "The way you seek lies that way. Merely follow the sign to the exit and you will find your way out."

"Seems simple enough." I smiled. "I think we can do that." I just started to take a step forward when… Whoa! A cart full of books then crashed into me, making me fall backwards into it as it sped off.

"Clair!" Looking back, I saw the same thing happen to my friends, although Scrooge had been knocked so hard he almost flew off, but held on with his cane. The sight of him flying behind his cart holding on like his life depended on it was kind of amusing to see.

"To find your way out you must face three tests: horror, adventure, and fantasy." The Pagemaster said as we sped out of sight. "And remember - when in doubt look to the books!"

* * *

 **Originally I wasn't going to use the Pagemaster in my story, but then I got an idea as to how it could be used to help Clair overcome her tendency to hesitate. So here it is.**

 **Just a heads up I am going to be busy these next few days so I may not be able to update or anything for a little bit. I will say that I feel like Clair's probably found her favorite world here.**


	30. How Horror-ible

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and/or The Pagemaster.**

 **Johri, Braxton, Gracie, and Eini belong to Flautist4ever. Special thanks for helping write this.**

 **Jason, Clair, Fushicho and Bludgeonhead are mine.**

* * *

Chapter 30: How Horror-ible

Mystical Library...

JASON'S POV

How in the world do I constantly end up in these situations? One moment I'm trying to get my cousin trained up, the next I'm flying through a strange library on the back of a book cart! Not far away Clair and Scrooge were also in similar situations, with the elderly duck using his cane to hold on to the end of his cart for dear life.

Speeding through the aisles filled my ears with rushing wind, but I could also hear voices speaking all around. Why do I get the feeling they were lines from various stories?

"Once Upon a Time", "Fee-fi-fo-fum", "I am the Ghost of Christmas Past", "All for one, and one for all", "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit", "They say Aslan is on the move".

Oh, crap! We were coming up fast to a shelf with no way to stop! "Turn. Turn!" Come on, what's with these carts? Were they on autopilot or something? "Brace for impact!"

When we collided with the shelves we hit them with such force that we flew through them, knocking books out onto the ground on the other side. As we laid there groaning, I swear I saw stars dancing around my head. "Ow. You two okay?"

"Remind me to ask the Pagemaster to put seat belts on these things." My cousin joked as she got up.

Our guide muttered under his breath while I heard him straighten out his back. "That felt like a crash my private pilot would've done." He said as we looked around our surroundings. "Bless me bagpipes. What is this place?"

Holy… maybe not as this place gave even me the creeps. There was a full moon above us casting an eerie light on a fog covered land. All around there were tombstones with dead trees standing watch over them. Why did some of the graves have chains on them? For a moment I thought we were back outside, but then I noticed some of the rocks were in the shape of books. "What kind of library is this?"

"Not yer average kind, that's for sure." Scrooge said as he began to move forward. "If I had to venture a guess I'd say we've crashed into the horror section."

I instantly regretted every movie I had ever seen.

As we began to walk forward I half-expected something from a nightmare to attack us, but nothing happened. Eventually we found an old house sitting on the edge of a cliff with a big green sign over it. It wasn't in a language I could read but something told me that meant that was were we wanted to go.

The house itself looked as if it had been beautiful and magnificent once, but now had fallen into disrepair and was on its last legs. I didn't think it was possible for a building to look dead, but here it was before me. Gasp! Oh, the chattering teeth was just Jiminy on my shoulder. "You okay?"

The scream the conscience gave was enough to wake the dead… wait. Probably not the best place for that metaphor. "Don't scare me like that!"

Before I could retaliate I heard someone scream up ahead.

"That wasn't me." My conscience told me as we took off towards the source of the scream. At the front steps of the house we came across a frightened blond haired boy with glasses and a red buttoned up shirt... what the? Were those three books alive? Regardless they were surrounded by three types of Heartless.

"What are they?" The boy asked.

"They're scary." A bluish green book that had a broken spine hid behind the boy's legs.

One book that had an eyepatch with a bandana and a peg leg drew a six inch sword. "Whatever they be I'll cleave 'em to the brisket!"

"Sure you will." A pink and purple book with wings like Tinker Bell rolled her eyes. "I wish we had real help."

"Wish granted!" Scrooge then parried blows with a Heartless that had long arms and was covered with bandages.

"Who are you?" The kid asked as he looked at us.

"We're people who can stop these things. Go."

The kid didn't need to be told twice as he and the books ran for cover.

We then turned our attention to the Heartless as they went on the offensive. A pair of purple horned Heartless with wings swooped at us, but we were able to block them. Throwing my Keyblade at one of them I managed to hit it before it could counterattack.

Scrooge let out a cry as one of the ghosts attacked him. "Get back!" he yelled as he tried to whack them away with his cane.

I tried slicing one of the ghosts, but it vanished before I could land a blow while one of those bandage things managed to slice me. With a grunt I managed to run my Keyblade through it, destroying it and releasing the heart. Now there were only two of the bandage things, five of the ghosts, and one of the flying ones.

"Thundaga!" My cousin's spell brought the wrath of the heavens down upon one of the ghosts, electrocuting it and doing heavy damage while Scrooge whacked and jabbed with his cane until the Heartless was destroyed. She then cast the same spell on the last flying one, destroying it and releasing the heart.

I then slashed through one of the ghosts until it vanished. While I looked around two of the bandage things attacked me. "Enough of this." I growled as I pulled out the keychain I got from Never Land and equipped it. As the flowers wrapped around my blade the name _Pixie Petal_ came to my mind while I activated— whoa. One moment I'm on one side of the battle, the next I'm on another. Again? And again? It was like I was on all sides of the battle, slicing enemies until they were destroyed and the hearts released.

As the power stopped I noticed my attack left only a few Heartless left. A few quick slashes from Scrooge, Clair, and I took care of them. As the last of the hearts flew into the sky I switched my keychain back to _Born Fighter_ and turned to the kid and his books. "It's safe."

"What were those things?" The kid asked us.

"The Heartless. Nasty creatures that cause trouble wherever they go." Clair explained as she looked at the books. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Ri-Richard Tyler. This is Adventure, Fantasy, and Horror." As we were introduced I couldn't help but notice the names of the books were similar to what the P agemaster said we had to face in order to leave this place. Could it be those books were what we needed to face? Something about that didn't seem right though.

"I'm Scrooge McDuck. This is Jason and Clair." Our guide's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and told me that Jiminy had gone into hiding again. "What're ya doin' here, lad?"

"Well, I was running an errand for my dad when a storm forced me to take shelter in a library. Next thing I know I'm here, and I can't get out until I make it to the exit."

So that's what that green light in the sky meant. Clearing my throat, I suggested, "Well, since we all seem to be going in the same direction, how about we tag along?"

"More friends?" The book called Horror asked hopefully.

The one called Adventure scoffed at us. "We don't need you. I could've handled all those beasties meself."

"Then why didn't you?" Fantasy rolled her eyes at him, earning some growls and curses from the book. "I think that might be a good idea, though. They seem to know about those monsters, and if they show up again we'll need all the help we can get."

With a nod, Richard added, "Statistics have proven there is safety in numbers."

I just rose an eyebrow at that, but then shrugged. "Yeah, exactly." With that we moved up the steps to the house.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

Horror. Adventure. Fantasy. Three different types of stories that were now characters as well as obstacles we had to face. I was certain this house we were about to enter was the horror one, but I wasn't sure what to expect. If there was anything my books had taught me about horror, it's that you should always expect the worse to happen.

As Horror pushed the door in we stepped through into a room so poorly lit we may as well have entered a cave. It was certainly massive enough to be one, with a low burning fireplace at one end of the room that looked to be on its last life and a table full of chemicals. Apart from the shelves of books the only piece of furniture I could see were a chandelier and an old sofa.

"Okay, this is a little creepy." Jason admitted.

Gri's beak! The door just slammed shut, trapping us inside! "Nevermore!" A huge black bird croaked as it flew over our heads.

"Get me out of here!" Richard pulled on the doorknob in an attempt to get back outside, but wow that was a bad door because the knob flew off and rolled into the dark until someone stepped on it.

A light from a lantern illuminated a man who I thought was supposed to be a gentleman in his middle ages. He had a kind look about him although his coattails were longer than any I had ever seen. "May I assist you in some way?" He asked us.

"We're sorry to intrude in your home, Mister…" I couldn't think of his name.

"Doctor. Doctor Jekyll." Despite him being so polite and open with us, something just didn't feel right. Was it because I had been attacked too many times on our adventures that my sense of trust was waning?

As he helped Richard up, the kid began to explain, "Well, we did ring the bell..."  
"It was all my fault." Horror interrupted. "I was trying to show them the other side of the house."

Even I noticed something changed in the doctor's demeanour at that. "The other side?"

"Yeah. So would ya kindly show us the way?" The old duck smiled.

"I'm afraid it is not that simple. I derive no pleasure in telling you that you are in extreme danger. Even as we speak, forces of evil are lurking in this very room, waiting to strike."

"And what are the odds that you are one of those evils?" I suddenly asked, shocking even my cousin.

The pink fairy book frowned at me. "How can you say such a thing? He's been nothing but a gentleman."

"Richard, come on. Didn't your parents warn you about strangers?"

"Yes they did." I noticed he moved away from us while Doctor Jekyll moved to the chemistry table.

As he began mixing some of the chemicals the doctor explained, "Every human being is possessed of both good and evil."  
That I knew too well, and wish it weren't so.

"But enough of that. Anyone care to join me for a drink?"

I shook my head no while Jason just folded his arms. "We're too young to drink."

Ignoring my cousin's rudeness the doctor continued to mix his chemicals. Pouring some red liquid from a beaker into a wine glass, he managed to change it to a green color. Adding an olive to it manage to make him smile as if he accomplished something.

Okay, if he's considering drink that…

"I'll have a go with ya', Doc!" Adventure accepted the drink from the doctor. As he took a sniff, he noticed Horror hovering over his shoulder. "Stand back! This is a man's drink!"

As he prepared to take a sip, the bent book got excited. "Can I have the olive?" As the question escaped his lips the book accidentally smacked his companion making him lose his hold on the wine glass. As it flew across the room it shattered on the floor spilling the liquid all around it.

"Now look what ye've done!" The pirate book pointed at the drink, but his anger quickly vanished… Goodness! The drink went and burned a hole through the floor. Was that stuff acid or something?

As we all turned to the doctor, we noticed he was just about to consume the liquid. Despite all our protests for him not to he downed it all, and then hunched over like it was eating his insides. Throwing the glass into the fire which made it flare up he let out an inhuman cry. What was wrong with him? As he made his way back over I noticed he seemed to be changing. His hands seemed to grow thicker and hairier, with his face changing to something more animal than man. Hair disheveled and clothes tearing like they no longer fit, I felt like I was caught in a nightmare. Once he caught his breath he began laughing like a maniac.

Even my cousin seemed disturbed by that. "Note to self: do not drink even when I come of age."

"It cannae be." Scrooge's words made me think he had encountered a situation like this before. "This is worse than what happened to me."

As what was left of the doctor came over to us, we tried reaching out to him. "Doctor Jekyll? Doctor J?" Fantasy checked.

"My name is Mr. Hyde!" The creature that was once Doctor Jekyll yelled at us in a gravely voice while swinging a cane that destroyed the beakers and lab equipment on the table.

Before he could reach us with the cane my cousin blocked his attack with his Keyblade. "Doctor! If you're still in there you gotta give me a sign!" The only response he got was a kick in the gut while the cane was raised to end his life.

No! In a flash I activated a barrier spell to keep my cousin safe from the monster. Cracking his neck joints, the rich duck said, "Looks like we're gonna hafta teach the doctor a lesson in playing with unknown chemicals."

With a grin that seemed to give off an aura of sadistic pleasure, the creature called Mr. Hyde charged at us with his cane. Parrying with his own, Scrooge managed to deflect the attack while Jason and I came at the sides. Using the wall as a launching point my cousin swung his Keyblade at the madman, landing a hit on him. Before Mr. Hyde could recover, Jason performed a slice before a rush jab, doing considerable damage.

Thanks to all our training I could now see how much health he had before our opponent could no longer fight. He still had plenty of fight within him, as- yeow! He just bit my arm! In a flash my magic acted up blasting him away from me and into the wall, and yet despite taking damage that made the former doctor laugh.

"Ya okay, lass?" Scrooge check on me while Jason changed his Keyblade to _Divine Way_. As he swung the Keyblade at Mr. Hyde the weapon managed to do some more damage before the monster unleashed a barrage of swings and jabs that also did some damage to my cousin.

"Heal!" I cast the Curaga spell on my cousin, watching the healing flower appear over him while a green aura restored his health. Pointing my Keyblade at Mr. Hyde, I casted, "Firaga", sending a huge fireball at him which did significant damage.

As the monster growled at me my cousin activated the power of Divine Way. I watched as it changed into a boat and water inexplicably rose up around it. As the former doctor turned and looked in confusion Jason steered the boat so it sent a wave of water rushing towards him. Before he could recover from the onslaught of liquid Jason maneuvered the boat so it would crash into Mr. Hyde, hurting him even more.

"That's it, lad! Give it to him!" Scrooge cheered him on while he leapt at the monster with his cane. Despite getting all the water on him and being hit by a boat the mad scientist was actually still able to hold his own. Casting a Thundaga spell seemed to help especially since he was soaked to the bone, but I knew we couldn't keep this up forever.

While our chauffeur locked canes with the madman while Jason continued to send waves of water at him, he managed to get out these words: "You will never leave this house alive!"

The idea of not making it back home to Mom and Dad, to never see them again, filled me with a I could act on it, I felt something sharp hit me in the back. When I reached there, I couldn't feel anything.

What was that that had happened?

With a cry, our elder duck friend was forced back from Mr. Hyde while Jason's Keyblade power ran out. With a cackle the madman came at me and catching me off guard with his cane. Narrowing my eyes I could feel my anger- no. Not this time. I won't let myself give in to my darkness.

Swinging my Keyblade, I managed to catch his next attack. "Blizzaga." I felt the cold seep out from me, freezing cane of my assailant solid and breaking with my next swing. From his panting and my magic I could see he didn't have much fight in him left.

"About what you said before when you were Jekyll, yeah everyone has good and evil in them. I may have made the mistake of trying to hide from my darkness, but that doesn't mean I have to give in and let it control me either!"

With those words I cartwheeled out of harm's way like Master Aqua had taught me before firing a beam of light at the monster. He cried out as it was a direct hit, and as he got up some bits of wood fell from above accompanied by an ominous creaking. Looking up we both saw the chandelier fall in between us, and the crash was enough to throw Mr. Hyde off balance that he fell into the hole.

"The stairs, mateys! The stairs!" Adventure then led the charge to the stairwell on the other side of the room.

Scrooge and Jason ran over to them, and I was about to join when I heard a cry for help. Turning, I realized Horror was trapped in the chain of the chandelier, and he was being dragged towards the hole. "Don't leave me! Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"

I don't know what happened, but I just reacted. Running over to the poor book I used my Keyblade to slice through the chains that held him prisoner. Pulling him out we watched as the chandelier fell through the hole along with Mr. Hyde's defeated roar. I sure hope that was the last we'll see of him.

As we ran to the stairs we paused as we saw they led up and down. "Which way?" Scrooge asked the book I had rescued.

"Down, definitely down." Horror pointed, but we paused as at the bottom of the stairs a red glow began to pulsate. Was that the sound of a beating heart I heard as well? "Uh, up. Definitely up. Up, up, up!"

As we ascended the stairs I couldn't help but notice things seemed to be getting darker the further up we went. Wasn't it supposed to get lighter? And the stone walls turned into shelves of books once again- Gri's beak! Did my hand just pass through a book like it wasn't there?

As books began to fly off the shelves with unearthly moaning, the rich duck turned to the broken book. "What in dismal downs is going on? What are these?"

"Ghost stories."

"Is that supposed to be some sort of pun?" My cousin asked while ghosts began to fly out of the books with mad cackles and inhuman cries. With a scream Richard ran up the stairs with all of us following close behind him. We ran and ran until we burst through some doors onto the roof of the haunted house. Once all eight of us, counting Jiminy, were out my cousin turned and pointed his keyblade at the door. A beam of light then shot out and hit the door, giving a clicking sound that I felt meant we wouldn't be followed by any of the spooks within.

"Now which way?" I asked as we looked around.

Looking over the edge, Jason said, "We'll just have to climb down."

"Climb? I can't. It's too high." The kid insisted.

As the books started the descent, Adventure gave his thoughts. "Come on, boy. Even books have spines."

"Well, it's either face what's down there or what's in there." With that, Scrooge began to climb down himself, showing his expertise as he scaled the steep wall. My cousin joined him while Richard finally worked up the courage to start climbing down into the dark unknown.

Oh, no! The stones underneath him slipped and he started falling. Oh, thank heavens. He managed to grab a waterspout before he fell too far. Okay, Clair, better catch up with-.

"You cannot do it." A voice then said.

"Who's there?" I looked around but I didn't see anyone.

"You know you can't do it. You may have endured facing a monster, but it was dumb luck that defeated the creature. You couldn't face your own darkness. What makes you think you can face someone who is darkness?"

The voice did have a point. How could I face Mortem if I couldn't stop a mad doctor? The dark warrior had powers Jekyll/Hyde never dreamed of. So how was I-?

A roar then echoed in my mind, silencing the voice and my doubts. No, Clair. You can do this. Right now you need to catch up to your friends. Leaping over the edge, I felt the power from Neverland activate again. The world slowed down as my vision seemed to focus on the water spouts and ledges up to the part where my friends were all standing.

Yeah! I then zipped from ledge to waterspout until I was reunited with my friends. As the books began to cheer I couldn't help but feel accomplished. We just went into a haunted house with a madman and ghosts, and we came out alive. That made me feel like I could hold my head high regardless of what happened before.

Adventure then took a deep breath. "Do ye smell it? Breathe it in, mates!" Pointing out across the distance, we could all see the green exit sign on the horizon. Then the sun began to rise revealing a vast ocean with tall palm trees and cliffs lying before us. "There it be. The Land of Adventure!"

* * *

Harthyn...

JOHRI'S POV

As we waited in the lift to load us into the shuttle, I couldn't help feeling worried about everything. I may not be the fastest catcher of social cues, but between the weird dreams, Yeller lying to people about Jason and Clair, the nutbag showing up on my parents' doorstep looking for me, and now the stranger Braxton told us about had appeared in the hotel last night…

Well, I was beginning to think something might be wrong. All of this couldn't be a coincidence. Maybe there is something going on that we're all now a part of.

The lift opened up to the catwalk, but I froze when I saw something beyond the shuttle.

Impossible! The early warning system should have been blaring by now!

I landed at the back of the lift shaft and tried to gasp for air. A hand shoved me back down.  
"DROP THE LIFT!" Braxton shouted, pressing the emergency comm button, "DROP THE LIFT!"

No answer came from the speaker.  
"THERE'S A KAIJU INCOMING!" Braxton's voice was growing desperate, "DROP THE LIFT!"

A roar split the air. Braxton cursed. I opened my eyes and saw Gracie trying in vain to force the door shut.

Braxton slammed the comm button again, "Droptheliftdroptheliftdroptheliftdropthelift!"

I scooted backwards as the kaiju drew closer. The lift tower shook with every massive footfall. Gracie tucked herself as far into the corner by the door as possible, but we had already been seen.

I met the kaiju's massive eye, and found nothing in it but hatred. It roared again, and my insides turned icy cold.

I recognized it as Bludgeonhead as the news dubbed him. His head had a crest almost like a hammer, except made of flesh and bone capable of smashing through buildings. A long svelte body seemed to curl around the launchpad, and the mouth revealed three rows of sharp teeth.

It dug its hind legs into the ground and dashed for us from the launch pad, its long, hideous front claws coming right for us.

 _Get to your ship._

I looked around confused at that. Everyone was too busy panicking at the kaiju that clearly wanted to kill us.

 _Go now!_

As Bludgeonhead prepared to live up to his name a blinding light then engulfed the area with every color in the known spectrum. While my friends covered their eyes I dared to sneak a peek at the source.

Gri, what I saw was beautiful. It was like the rainbow and northern lights themselves had come together to create beauty incarnate. The avian creature dove from the heavens like a goddess descending from on high. Even the serrated beak and clawed wings didn't detract from her gorgeous aura. If anything they seemed to compliment her.

"Fushicho."

As I watched the massive bird collided with the attacking kaiju, dragging him across the ground and stopping short of some apartment buildings. Bludgeonhead writhed and clawed at Fushicho, ripping out some of her feathers. Fushicho screeched and battered Bludgeonhead with her wings in retaliation.

 _GO!_ The voice inside my head commanded.

Rushing to the others, I pulled on the shoulders of Braxton and Eini. "Come on!" I urged them, snapping them out of their stupor, "Fushicho's covering us!"

Eini nodded, already dashing for the ship. Gracie tried to follow, but stumbled over a piece of rubble. I watched as Braxton knelt by her. Fushicho's light filtered through the doorway to the catwalk. The colors danced across his face and illuminated the subtle scattering of blue in his violet eyes. He put one arm behind Gracie's shoulders and another under her knees, and I was taken aback by the way his muscles rippled as he stood up and ran, carrying her onto the catwalk before setting her down...

 _NOW IS NOT THE TIME! GET TO YOUR SHIP!_

Snapping out of my own stupor I followed my three companions to the vessel which swayed and shook from the impacts of the battling kaiju. I could feel the air itself shake from the blows they traded with each other, and Bludgeonhead made good use of his weapon.  
"EVERYBODY BUCKLE UP!" Gracie called as she ignited the liftoff thrusters, "AND PRAY FUSHICHO CAN GET US OUT OF THE ATMOSPHERE!"

"I'LL PRAY TO GRI IF IT MEANS WE GET OUT OF THIS ALIVE!" Eini swore as the engines roared to life. From the window I could see Bludgeonhead turn our way as if he wanted to keep us from escaping. As he leapt at us a bright laser hit him in the side and knocked the monster to the ground. As Fushicho grabbed her opponent in her talons, she turned her head to us and her eyes locked with mine.

 _Go!_

I was thrown backwards in my seat as Gracie took off. As we sped off into the atmosphere I could hear the roars of the battle continue, but somehow I knew that the one who helped us would emerge victorious.


	31. Courageous Adventures

**This was a bit of a beast to write but I think it was worth it.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or the Pagemaster.**

 **Jason, Clair, Alan, and Noah are mine.**

 **Steven belongs to TheGoodandTheBadXBoy.**

* * *

Chapter 31: Courageous adventures

Mystic Library…

JASON'S POV

As we headed down the cliff, I couldn't help but notice the rock wall was in the shape of books that had just been thrown to the floor. Touching them, however, made me realize they were still rocks. Still, this place was really driving home the fact that this was supposed to be a huge interactive library. Yet the salty air and the warm breeze made me feel I was outside again, and filled me with a desire to see the universe.

Adventure just rushed on ahead moving down a narrow trail to the rocky shore below with Horror tailing after him. Richard and Clair were more careful about their descent, clinging to the book rock wall and testing each step. Fantasy kept giving them words of encouragement while the two of them took their time.

As I got closer to the bottom, I noticed Adventure had already made his way out onto a rock that jutted out of the water. "Ain't it grand?"

"Oh, it takes me back to many an adventure I had in my youth, scouring the seas for lost treasure." Scrooge smiled as he joined Adventure and Horror out on the rock.

The broken book tried to give the pirate book a hug, but was promptly rejected. As Horror sulked, Adventure pulled out his sword. "Ain't nothing like the sea t' let a man know he's alive!" Right as he said that a huge wave lifted up before him and splashed down over his head. Failing to stifle his humor, Horror began to laugh while Adventure turned to face him. "What're yer laughin' at, hunchbook?" The sight of him scowling while covered with seaweed and starfish was enough to make me break out laughing, and Scrooge also shared in the humor.

We weren't laughing for long though as Horror leaned back too far and fell off the side of the rock, taking Adventure with him! Running over to the side, I saw they landed on top of each other into a small boat. "Well, that's convenient." I muttered as I leapt over the side and into the boat while my cousin and the others joined us. "Looks like we have a way to cross that ocean."

"Is it safe?" Richard asked as he climbed in.

"Haven't ye ever read the book on sailin'? In fact, I am the book on sailin'." Adventure said as he stamped his peg leg on the bottom of the boat to prove his point, only for it to get stuck in a hole.

With a smirk, the fairy book decided to rub it in his face. "I'm impressed." In retaliation the pirate book jerked his leg out of the hole, causing a geyser of water to hit Fantasy.

"We're sinking. We're going down. Somebody do something!" Horror panicked while Richard actually did something useful. Pulling out a handkerchief, he stuffed it into the hole until the water stopped leaking in. "Thank you." The hunchbook told the kid.

"Jason, help me cast us off." Scrooge said as he began pushing the boat away from shore. I got out to help him quickly and once the boat got going we hauled ourselves back in, taking the oars while the pirate book pulled out some instrument from his pages and began playing a shanty while we rowed.

I couldn't help but notice the kid seemed a little nervous as we rowed out into the ocean. "The water looks pretty choppy. Maybe we should've stayed where it was safe."

"Lad, a ship in port may be safe, but that's not what ships are made for." Scrooge told him as we rowed out into the ocean. As I watched Clair talk with Fantasy I couldn't help but feel happy. I hadn't known Richard or the books for very long, but I already felt a bond with them like I felt when Moana, Maui, Hina, Leon, Aerith, Jiminy, and the original Guardians of Light. This bond, however, also made me remember something I didn't want to remember.

* * *

Harthyn…

Six years ago…

"Jason, we're not friends anymore." Steven told me while some of the others nodded in agreement.

"It was a cheap shot back there!" I argued. "We've been friends for over two years and now you're calling it quits?"

"I thought better of you. But this new boy proved me wrong about you." Steven explained simply like I wasn't much of an opponent. "Noah, Alan, and I have agreed we don't want a weakling in our group."

"Did you forget I brought us all together?"

"By beating us, but now that you've been defeated it doesn't seem right to go on following you." Alan rubbed his blue hair out of his face.

With a nod, Noah added, "The strong deserve to lead, but the weak should be left in the dust. It's survival of the fittest, and you're just not fit anymore."

"I've been training for nearly three years now to be a soldier and that's not enough for you?" This betrayal was making my blood boil. "You three are nothing without me!"

To my surprise Steven rolled up his sleeves. "Then prove it."

"Believe me, it'll be a pleasure." With that I charged at my first friend, tackling him to the ground. As he rolled over he managed to deliver a punch to my face, but it wasn't anything I wasn't used to. Even though he had me pinned down I managed to knee him in the gut to get an opening.

As he groaned in pain I shoved him off before delivering a kick to his face. "See? Who's weak-?" My taunt was cut off as he knocked my legs out from under me.

Getting up, my former friend spat in my face. "Too slow. You're not strong enough and never will be." Grabbing my arm, he twisted it around making me cry out in pain. "Submit, Jason."

"No."

"I'll break your arm!"

Alan and Noah began cheering him on. "Do it! And then let's go find that Axel and do the same to him."

Steven then released me just punch Alan hard in the face. With a grunt he fell to the ground which surprised me and Noah too.

Alan then jolted up and nursed his nose. "What was that for, Steven?!" He winched out.

Steven just forced him back down and put his foot on his throat. "There's one thing at least a winner deserve and it's a mold of respect!"

"B-but why did you hit Alan?" Noah asked as he looked nervous of Steven now.

"Well, I can see in his eyes and Axel is more than an insect to be crushed." Steven said without missing a beat. "I don't care if you beat Jason to a pulp, but if you ever lay a finger on Axel I will make you regret the day you were born. We will challenge him one day, but for now just mark my words."

* * *

I had been humiliated, and my friends proved they weren't my friends. They shunned me like a disease, and left not-so subtle messages that I should kill myself. They used to be my break from my father, but they went on to making my life miserable like he did. Looking across the rowboat I couldn't help but fear that it was only a matter of time before I lost my new friends.

I noticed we had gone far out to see, and the sky had clouded over like a storm was about to hit. As we passed over a big break in the water Adventure dropped his musical instrument. "Whalin' men." He pointed to four small boats in the swells off to our right, or starboard as I heard the book call it.

In one of the boats stood a bearded sinewy man in a tattered captain's coat. I noticed he had a scar over his left eye and a peg leg just like Adventure. "It's Captain Ahab, it is." The book identified him.

"You know that doesn't tell me anything about him, right?" I deadpanned.

"Another guy with a peg leg." Richard noticed.

"Seems to be a fashion statement around here." Fantasy cast a sideways glance at Adventure.

As our boat passed close to Ahab's he called out to us, "D'ye see it?"

"See what?" My cousin asked while fighting the urge to vomit. Guess she didn't handle the ocean very well.

The pirate book began to explain. "The devil of the deep, the white whale, Moby Dick!"

Okay, there were so many things wrong with that name. I was about to make a joke about it when I noticed something changed in the demeanour of Captain Ahab. It was like he finally let out a demon that was hiding inside of him, and I could see an aura of darkness appear around him. "Thar she blows!" Jutting a knotted finger out on the horizon, we looked to see the water ahead parting, and a spray of water shooting up a hundred feet into the air. Preparing the harpoon he carried, the captain boasted, "I grin at thee, thou grinning whale!"

"He's possessed!" Fantasy pointed at Ahab, with my cousin nodding in agreement.

"He's insane!" Horror screamed.

"He's my kind of guy!" Adventure saluted him.

Tapping me on the shoulder, Scrooge said, "Come, lad. Let's row away while we can. I've read this story and it does not end well."

"What happens?" I asked.

"Everyone dies!"

That got me to start rowing in the opposite direction from Ahab and his men, though I could still hear him.

"Thou damned whale! Thus I give up the spear!" As the white whale leapt out of the water, the captain threw his weapon, but he might as well have been throwing a stick against Tetsukyo. The whale, Moby Dick, smashed into the boats and ripped them apart with his massive size. Ahab and his men were no more, and I couldn't see any survivors among the wreckage.

"Think I scared it?" Horror asked as we looked at the carnage.

Shaking my head, I said, "No. I think we just escaped notice."

"I vote we keep it that way." My cousin suggested, to which I agreed and I could see Scrooge did as well.

"Where did he go?" Adventure's question made us all look over into the water, and I instantly regretted it. Moby Dick was heading right for us, his tiny eyes so

full of hatred that didn't seem natural. "Row! Row fer yer lives!"

Too late! The whale caught our boat in its mouth as it shot for the heavens.

"Abandon shi-i-i-ip!" The order came too late as the whale crushed our ride in its jaws, and the next thing I knew I was falling through the air into the thrashing water below.

The cold temperatures shot throughout my body and almost made me expel the little bit of air I held on to. Once I recovered my wits I swam to the surface while ignoring the stinging in my eyes from opening them in the salt water. I had to know where I was going and I couldn't do that with my eyes shut. As I breached the surface I took in as much air as I could, coughing while I looked around the wreckage.

That whale really did a number on all the boats. Broken planks were floating all around me and… Jiminy! Grabbing the cricket I placed him on a floating plank while I stayed close to him. "You okay?"

"Okay?" He asked while hitting the side of his head, emptying water from his ear. "That's the third time I've been attacked by a whale. First shortly before my world was destroyed, second when I was traveling with Sora, Donald, and Goofy." As he took off his hat more water spilled out drenching him even more. "I can safely say whales are not gentle giants."

"Jason!" I then saw Richard on some planks large enough to serve as a raft. Grabbing Jiminy I began to make my way over to him when a familiar face popped out of the water. Grabbing the book the kid began to move him like a bellows, pumping the water out of him before embracing the book in a hug.

As Adventure got his way out of the embrace I managed to climb aboard. "Glad you two are okay, but where are the others?"

"I'm 'fraid they've gone below with Davy Jones." The book said with remorse.

"As in they were lost at sea." Jiminy's explanation dashed all hopes I had of them making it out.

Richard was just as distraught as I felt. Wrapping his arms around his knees the kid sobbed, "You guys were the only friends I ever had."

"She be a cruel sea, lad."

"Just like life." I looked across the ocean. "Sometimes it gets its jollies by throwing a curveball at you. Spend years being trained to be something you don't want to be, and then find people you thought you could trust only for them to stab you in the back. Then when you give up it dares to give you a glimmer of hope only to take away your family and new friends."

Clenching my fist I looked out over the sea. Somewhere beneath those waves was the monster that took the people I cared about from me. I couldn't help but imagine how sweet it would be to… no. That's stupid. The ocean was the domain of Moby Dick. I was just an unwelcome visitor, and even though I never read the story something inside me said that Ahab let himself be consumed by vengeance.

I couldn't help but wonder what Mortem would think of me now. He'd probably scoff and call me an idiot for being sentimental. Might go on about how a Keyblade bearer would make the situation work for him. That old duck was a seasoned adventurer, so he must've found a way out. And Clair… please let all the training we put in worth the effort. I didn't want my last memory of you to be of our fight.

I promised Mortem I'd get my cousin ready to face him, but if it was just me who had to face him I would do it. And I would win. I had to so I could tell Uncle Thomas and Aunt Elisa what happened. I wanted to mourn, but there was no time for that. Now I had to be strong, stronger than what Steven and the others believed I was, stronger than even Mortem.

"Horror. Fantasy." Richard's voice brought me out of my thoughts while alerting me to some dorsal fins cutting through the water. "Sharks!"

While Adventure got ready to reunite with our friends I noticed a light in the fog. Was someone out there? "Hey, look." I pointed at what I saw, and as it came closer it appeared to take the shape of a boat.

"Help! Over here!" Richard waved his hands frantically over his head.

"Careful, mate. Not all sharks are in the water." The old seaman warned him.

As the skiff drew closer I saw there were two men aboard. The tall one was dressed in dirty-looking clothes with a hefty flintlock pistol shoved into his belt. The short one had a braided beard and was on the obese side. The tall one grabbed Richard and Adventure while I climbed aboard myself. I didn't want to be anywhere near these guys but between them and the ocean I liked my chances with people.

"We're so glad you guys found us." Richard explained our situation. "We're missing four others, two are about his size. There's also a girl with braids in her hair and a short one with a cane and top hat. Did you see 'em?"

"Yer all the catch we had t'day," the tall pirate said while the short one pulled out a ship's whitle and blew it. Another whistle answered through the fog as a huge wooden ship with large sails crashed through the veil. There was a name painted on the flank, but I couldn't read it while on the tallest mast a black flag painted with a skull and a pair of swords flew overhead.

"The _Hispaniola_." Adventure read. "I knew it. It's him."

Looking at him, I asked, "Who?"

"The meanest, most black-hearted pirate who ever sailed the seven seas. Long John Silver." As Adventure reached for his sword one of the pirates pointed their pistol at him.

"Jest sit yer keel down, mate. John Silver's expectin' live company."

Richard was the first to be sent flying over the starboard rail of the ship, followed by me as I climbed over myself. The entire crew of this ship were filthy and unwashed, with some being fate and others were thin. All of them carried weapons and I could see rust forming on some of the blades. One pirate raised his cutlass under the kid's chin. "Give the word, Cap'n Silver, sir, and I'll show ya the color of their insides."

"Red! Red! They're red!" He answered in fear.

Some pirates tried to threaten me, but there was only so much I would take. Summoning my Keyblade I disarmed three of them before facing the rest of the crew. However, that was when another pirate spoke up. "Stow yer cutlass, Tom Morgan. I want a better look at their outsides first." The voice was deep and commanding, and came from a hulking man with one leg using a crutch to get around. On his shoulder was a green bird that looked as nasty as everyone else.

"I take it you're Long John Silver." I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Aye, the very same." As he looked at Richard and I, he smiled. "I think you'll both do. Seein' as how me men plucked ye out of the water like drownin' bilge rats, you'll be joining our happy family as our cabin boys."

Pointing my Keyblade at him, I said, "Let me be clear, Silver. Your men did not pluck me out of the ocean. I chose to get in their boat on my own. I have not faced giant crabs, exploding caves, mad doctors and killer whales just to be made a slave by a bunch of disease ridden pirates. The only reason I'm on this boat is because I need a ride and you're going to give it to me whether you like it or not."

"And I already have a family. And I'm sure they're wondering where I am. I think I'll just be getting home now." Richard tried to leave only for a bunch of weapons to be pointed at the two of us.

"I think ye are home, the both of ye." Silver smiled as he felt in power. I think I now understand why Mortem hates people on other worlds.

"John Silver!" Adventure called from where he was. "Touch one hair on those boys' heads, and I'll chop yer liver so fine it won't be fit fer a party cracker!"

The pirate captain only laughed. "Welcome aboard, matey." As another pirate pushed the book onto the deck Silver leaned in. "Ye wouldn't happen to be goin' after me treasure now, would ye?"

Figures that they were looking for buried gold.

"Ye ain't got any treasure worth goin' after." Adventure told him.

Those words caused the pirates to start muttering amongst themselves, and I got the feeling they weren't exactly trusting of their captain. Silver's reaction made me wonder if he was used to this. "He's lyin'! There's plenty of treasure fer all of ye. Search 'im. The boys too."

Swinging my fist around I knocked the first pirate who got too close to the ground while I used my Keyblade to disarm another. "I'm serious. Stand back or the only gold you'll see is whatever's on the other side."

The one called Tom Morgan grabbed Adventure and shook him upside down. An arsenal of weapons came flying out of the book. Pistols, swords, knives, cannons, even more of the musical instrument from before. What else could he fit within himself?

Another pirate who tried to grab me ended up losing more of his teeth, which from what I've seen of these pirates was something they couldn't afford to lose.

Richard wasn't so lucky. Some pirates managed to shake out of him some money, a nail, and a card of some sort. Picking up the money, the pirate captain looked over it. "Now what might this be?"

"Money. It's yours. Keep it." The kid said in an attempt to get them to stop, but that only made the pirates laugh.

Silver found a use for the nail as a toothpick while he looked over the card. "A library card? A cabin boy don't need no library card." With a laugh he tossed it overboard while Adventure reached futilely for it.

"Land ho!" A voice called out from the crow's nest, causing the pirates to rush to the rail with greed in their eyes.

Looking out in the distance I could see an island with a rocky cliff in the shape of a skull. "There she be, mateys. Treasure Island!" Long John Silver told his men who cheered and became excited by the thought of buried treasure. As they loaded the skiffs, they also took the time to tie up Richard and Adventure, though I kept knocking those who approached me down until they got the message that I was off limits. As I boarded one of the skiffs, the pirate captain gave me one warning. "Try to take me treasure, and I'll end the lives of yer friends."

"I have no interest in gold." I told him bluntly as we rowed for the island. Once we were ashore the crew began to search while Silver hobbled along on his crutch. In his free hand he towed the rope that tied Richard and Adventure together. I could've freed them, but I was a little curious to see what would happen.

"Stay on yer toes, mates. Soon as Silver goes for the gold, we'll make our break." Adventure said.

After a little wandering into the island, the pirate captain paused us. "What does the map say?"

"It's in the middle by the waterfall." One pirate tried to read the map.

Another took the map and turned it on its side. "No, it's east by some broccoli."

Did broccoli even grow in the wild?

With a growl Silver took the map and held it upside down. "It's in the west by a tree!" I got the impression that these pirates were all brawn and no brains. Which meant I could easily outthink them.

After traveling down the trail for a bit, the pirates stopped when they came across the remains of a human skeleton. The bones were laid straight with its feet pointed one direction and its arms pointing the other way.

"W-what sort of way is that for bones t'lie?" One pirate asked. "Tain't natural."

Man, not only were these guys dumb but they were superstitious. Another weakness that could be used against them.

"This island's haunted," Another pirate said. "It's accursed, it is!"

Silver only needed one look at the skeleton. "Ye yellow sea dogs. The bones is the compass pointin' the way to the doubloons!"

The pirates then broke into a run toward the treasure… why were they stopping? As we moved closer I saw that there was a pit with a single chest which they had opened only to find air. "It's gone. The treasure's gone."

"Dig deeper, boys!" Silver ordered his men, but it did no good.

"One gold piece! This yer treasure, is it?" The pirates then began to mutter amongst themselves, and I could see darkness swirling around them.

Silver reached for his flintlock, but the rest of his crew all pointed their weapons at him. "Throw down yer weapon, John Silver."

"You'll be regrettin' this, George Merry." Silver reluctantly tossed down his weapon."

"Save yer speeches." The pirate called George Merry prepared to fire. "Dead men don't bite."

Okay, now I'd better…

"Fifteen men on a dead man's stomach." A creepy voice then began to sing.

"No, no. Chest. Chest!" A familiar voice corrected the first.

"Chest, chest, chest, chest. Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!" The singing then changed to creepy, almost insane laughter that put all the pirates on edge.

"E-evil spirits!" The one called Tom Morgan cried out.

A new voice then spoke out. "You have dared to violate my sacred island with your greed and violence. I, the guardian of this isle, now curse all of you. None of you shall have the riches you seek, but will leave with increased gullibility, sore bodies, and humiliated spirits."

Wait a minute. That voice. I knew it.

"Sanctuary!" Before I realized what was happening, Horror swung out of a tree and knocked out two pirates before standing proud of his accomplishment.

The kid's face brightened. "Horror! You're alive!"

"Not for long!" One of the pirates pointed his flintlock at the book only to end up encased in ice. With a cry Clair and Scrooge leapt out of the foliage, Keyblade and cane swinging and disarming pirates.

As another pirate tried to shoot us, something flew in front of his face making him sneeze. His shot went wild, knocking some coconuts out of a tree and hitting Tom Morgan on the head, knocking him out cold.

With a laugh Adventure drew his sword. "At last, a fight!" Moving over to them I sliced the rope holding them prisoner. The book's momentum carried him into the empty chest which closed on him.

Two of the pirates then attacked my cousin who blasted them back with fire and thunder spells. Claiming that now they were fighting a witch another pirate tried to stab her only for Scrooge to knock his sword away with his cane. Horror managed to get a couple of pirates to crash into each other while I brought the blunt end of my weapon onto the head of the one called George Merry, knocking him out.

I was surprised at how easy it was to take down the pirates. I mean we faced Heartless with more power than these guys. Right as I thought that Clair grabbed the back of her head with a cry. "Clair?" I ran over to her to check on her.

"Voice… hurting…" She said as I smelled circuits burning.

Hopping off my shoulder, Jiminy looked through Clair's hair until… "Ah-hah." With a tug he pulled something out of it. "Here's your voice. Some sort of mechanical puppet."

As I looked at what he held in my hands my eyes widened. "A mind bug. Designed to play mind games with an enemy soldier. Something the military uses."

"But, Jason, that means…"

"We have proof the person in the black coat came from Harthyn."

"You sure they are Harthynian?"

"There's no doubt now."

Looking over, I noticed Silver was facing off against Richard, who was eyeing a cutlass on the ground. The pirate captain noticed it too. "Don't even think of it, boy. Ye ain't got the heart."

Okay, what happened next I couldn't believe. The kid managed to grab the sword and point it at Silver's big gut. "S-s-stay back." He ordered.

Now the pirate captain looked worried. "Avast, lad. Somebody could get hurt with that blade ye got there."

As the rest of us got there, I noticed a lone skiff on the beach. "You've been beaten Silver, and your crew has lost their faith in you. Being the nice guy I am I'm going to give you one chance. Take that skiff and get off this island while you can. Unless you think you can take on all of us."

I could tell from the look in his eyes that he couldn't. "Aye, lad. I accept yer terms. I'm goin'. Right ye are, into the boat." As he got aboard the skiff, he looked back at us. "Ye be a hard lad, Richard Tyler. And Jason Norman? Ye be more fearsome than any sea monster. Good sailin' to ye." With that the pirate captain grabbed the oars and with a few swift strokes was sailing out to sea.

As Richard dropped the weapon, he looked at us like he couldn't believe what he had just done. "Boy I wish my dad could-a seen me."

"You did great, Richard. You stood your ground." I smiled at him before turning to the others. "What happened to you? I thought you drowned."

"We almost did until we learned he could float." Fantasy gestured to Horror.

With a smile he knocked himself on the side of his head. "It's hollow."

"With Scrooge and I it was different. When I fell into the ocean my magic activated like it didn't before, and I changed into a mermaid." My cousin grinned. "I can't explain it but I think my magic just reacted to give me a chance to stay alive."

"If it hadn't been for her, we wouldn't have been able to regroup and follow that ship to this island." Scrooge looked at the pit with regret. "A pity that the treasure was already gone when we got here."

It was then we heard banging from inside the chest and I remembered our last friend was locked inside. Hopping on top of the chest, Horror asked, "Who's there?"

"Adventure!"

"Adventure who?"

"Whaddya mean, Adventure who? Open the blasted top of this coffin, you dog-eared…" Horror wasted no time opening the chest, and Adventure bounded out swinging his sword looking for a fight. "Let me at 'em!" He cried before he realized the fight was over.

With a shrug, I said, "Sorry, but we kinda took care of them already."

Fuming, Adventure stormed off down the beach with Horror tagging along while Richard and Fantasy went off to talk. Looking at the others, I said, "You had me scared. I thought I lost you."

"Now you know how it was for me when I thought you were crushed in the Cave of Wonders!" My cousin snapped at me. "It's not fun thinking your family is dead."

"Guess this makes us even."

"I guess it does."

"You should've seen Jason. I could see he was about to give in to dispair, but then he put on a brave face and stood up to the pirates." Jiminy explained from my shoulder. "He refused to let himself get pushed around by those brutes."

"And you should've seen Clair." Scrooge explained. "Bless me bagpipes, she realized the pirates were superstitious and came up with the plan to scare them the way we did. Aye, you two have grown up and changed so much from when I first met you, and that has been a grand treasure."

Hearing that from the old duck touched me in a way that I never knew I wanted. I felt proud that I had chosen to stay out here, that I had chosen to listen to Moana's words. Looking back on my memories I realized I have changed, and I daresay I believe it was for the better. Kneeling down, I gave Scrooge a big hug. "Thank you."

"Thank you, lad."

With this old duck, I felt like he had been more of a father to me than my old man ever did.

* * *

We were trying to figure out a plan when Adventure came running back to us. "Why're ye sitting around like a bunch a old wenches at tea time?" The book asked as he held out his hand and hook to Richard. "Pick one."

"Mmm… that one." When the kid picked the hand, Adventure opened it up to reveal… "My library card!"

"I wrested it away from three sharks who was eyein' it fer breakfast, and with no small threat to me life either."

"Mmm-hmmm." Fantasy clearly did not believe him.

I then noticed we were one companion short. "Where's Horror?"

Adventure then scratched his head with his hook. "Well, he was… but he… I mean I sort of… he kind-a…"

"Now what did you say to him?" scolded Fantasy.

"Well, I… uh… just… I'll go find him."

"Don't bother." A new voice said. Looking at a sand dune we saw a figure in a black cloak standing there, although I noticed a part of the cloak was torn in a place where I could see bandages. Above him was a floating pirate ship the size of a skiff with the Heartless emblem on it, and where the figurehead should've been…

"Horror!"

"Yes, I found him wandering around after the one called Adventure broke his spirits. Poor thing. All he wanted was to have friends, but he was rejected by his own. I must say this part of the library has an abundance of darkness, whether it be from old mariners hunting made enemies, pirates searching for gold, or people who were rejected by those who should've been their friends."

"Hey, it's you again." Richard realized.

Turning to him, my cousin asked, "You know this guy?"

"Yeah. He tried to fill Richard's head with fear instead of hope until Adventure did something useful." Fantasy explained.

Rubbing the part of his cloak where I could see the bandages, the figure said, "Yes. That cursed dog you set on me was a nuisance."

"I knew _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ was a good one." The pirate book smiled before waving his hook. "Now ye better give Horror back or I'll load ye into the cannons of yer ship!"

"My ship? Please. I wouldn't use something so primitive." Looking at Clair, the figure said, "A pity the mind bug I planted in you short circuited because now I can't make sure you give in to your own fears and doubts. But then from what I heard you don't really need help with that."

"You'll find I'm not the same person as before." She growled. "Now release Horror or face the consequences."

"Tell you what? How about you try to rescue him while getting attacked by some familiar faces?" Snapping his fingers the figure caused ten more Heartless to appear. These ones were black like Shadows, but had bandanas over their heads and wore tattered clothes. Each of them carried a long cutlass. "Pirate Heartless for a section brimming with pirates. Let's see if you can take care of them as easily as regular pirates." With that the figure vanished into the corridor of darkness.

As we got ready to fight, I turned to the others. "Fantasy, keep Richard safe. Adventure, you wanted a fight. Feel free to join us." With a laugh the pirate book leapt over to us while we got ready to face the Heartless.

With a cry we charged forward at the monsters, but three of them met our attacks by slicing us with their swords. As Clair and I cried out, Scrooge used his cane to trip up one while Adventure sliced it with his sword. As the old duck continued to jab it with his cane my cousin cast a Gravity spell that crushed it under the weight.

While she did that I switched keychains and equipped _Divine Way_ again. As I parried blows with one of the pirates I managed to disarm the monster while I jabbed it twice and finished with a slice. My cousin then froze it with a Blizzard spell while Adventure sliced through it, destroying it and releasing the heart it held.

We were then blasted back by cannon fire from the ship above us. Leaping up, I began to slice at it trying to free Horror. Eventually gravity took hold of me again and I had to fall back into the sand where I was attacked by two more of the pirates.

Pushing them off me, I felt my Keyblade's power activate as the boat appeared once more. As the water pushed out from it I steered the boat into the Heartless, doing significant damage to them. My three companions also leapt in doing additional damage to the Heartless, even destroying some of them. With this we were able to take down four more of the Heartless while the remaining four were left with heavy damage.

"Magnega." Clair cast the spell, attracting all the Heartless to one location including the ship. As we all leapt in we sliced and jabbed each Heartless until they were destroyed releasing four additional hearts into the air.

Just as we were about to attack the ship together severn more pirates and three air soldiers appeared. "Oh, come on!" I said getting a little frustrated.

"That's it. Let more of 'em come." Adventure grinned as he crossed blades with one of the pirates. Doing some back flips she must've learned from Master Aqua the ground glowed where Clair touched it. As one of the pirates rushed towards her the ground exploded beneath it, doing significant damage while the old duck jabbed it a couple of times while a final slash from Horror destroyed it. Two more ended up falling for the explosions and resulting fire and blizzard spells from my cousin destroyed them and freed their hearts.

My cousin then cried out as she was hit with blasts from the pirate ship only to be slashed by the remaining four pirates. Seeing her cry out like that filled me with a rage as suddenly the world slowed around me and I found myself focusing on the individual Heartless. When the speed went back to normal I slammed my Keyblade on the ground, causing the ground to shake before three rocky spikes appeared and impaled three of the Heartless.

"Clair!" Pulling out a bottle full of a green liquid Scrooge tossed it to my cousin who caught it. Drinking it down I saw her injuries vanish and her face seemed to brighten up. Thanking our friend she cast a thunder spell on one of the air soldiers as it was swooping towards him. Adventure then stabbed the last pirate, destroying it with a laugh while the crystalline heart flew into the air.

As the old duck and I leapt up to attack some of the air soldiers we each sliced then three times before they swooped down and tackled us while gravity took effect. Leaping onto my shoulder the pirate book then performed a couple of slices with his sword before one air soldier was destroyed.

"Zero Graviga." Clair then cast the spell causing the last air soldier and the pirate ship to float around each other while I could see their health getting lower. Wasting no time the four of us then leapt at them, hitting them as much as we could until both the air soldier and pirate ship were destroyed, setting the hearts they held prisoner free.

"And that'll teach ye to mess with a pirate, ye jellyfish!" Adventure taunted them before looking at Horror who wasn't moving. "Speak t' me, matey. Ye had a good heart, ye did. And ye was braver than ye knew. I'd walk the plank if I thought it would bring ye back."

"That's beautiful." Those words from Horror made the pirate book's eyes widen like saucers.

"Thank heaven you're okay, Horror." Clair said as she squatted closer to his level. "We were worried about you."

"I'm okay now thanks to my friend." Giving Adventure a hug, Horror was immediately pushed off.

"Get off me!" The pirate book's reaction made all of us laugh.

Once I was done I looked down. We had to let Braxton and the others know that we have undeniable proof that the person, or people, in black were using technology from our world.

Whoa. Fantasy's wand just flashed. "Did you see that?" She asked.

"See what?" Scrooge asked as it happened again and again.

The fairy book smiled. "My wand. It's blinking. That can only mean one thing."

"The exit." Richard smiled.

Adventure pumped his sword into the air. "The checkout."

"A happy ending." Horror smiled.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." My cousin then took the charge.

* * *

 **I know I said this was going to focus on Clair, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to put Jason through what he put Clair through.**

 **I apologize if the interference from the people in the black cloaks wasn't what you were expecting, but there's a chance they may come back next chapter. I'm really looking forward to it because I can see how it pushes Clair.**

 **AquaDestiniesEmbrace pointed out that my spacing didn't work out so I had to go back and edit it.  
**

 **I hope I didn't make Jason and Clair seem overpowered here. I was trying to make it seem like their training is going to pay off, and that they have gotten stronger with their skills. Also I didn't want to rely on a slapstick fight with the regular pirates, so that's why I had them easily defeated so I could focus the stakes on the Heartless fight.**


	32. A Fantasy-tical Achievement

**We made it. Final chapter regarding the Pagemaster. Still have several more to go through before this story is done.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and/or The Pagemaster.**

 **Jason and Clair are mine.**

* * *

Chapter 32: A Fantasy-tical Achievement

Mystic Library…

CLAIR'S POV

Jason and I cleared the underbrush of the jungle using our Keyblades while Fantasy led the way with her wand. She seemed really excited to have her wand working again as it kept blinking the whole time. As Adventure climbed up on a rock, he asked her, "Are ye sure that yard stick a yers is workin'?"

"I don't know. Maybe we should test it." With a flick of her wand… oh goodness! That was hilarious! She changed Adventure into what looked like her ugly twin sister. He still had his moustache and big nose, but now was colored purple like Fantasy. He also had a blonde wig, lipstick, and a tutu on. I could help but crack up at the sight.

The pirate book looked over himself with an expression like he was back in the horror section. "Ye've gone overboard this time, sister!" Swinging his sword wildly Adventure was able to correct what the fairy book had done to him and was quickly back to looking like his old self again.

I could tell by the grin on Fantasy's face that she had been wanting to do that for a long time now.

"Relax Adventure." Jason grinned. "If it helps, you could never pass as a fairy even if you tried." As the pirate book chased after my cousin I couldn't help but think about what Scrooge had said. He was different now, and not in his abilities as a fighter. He was smiling and laughing, and those were things he rarely did. Now he was able to crack jokes and have fun with others. Even though the bandages had fallen off his scar didn't seem as bad anymore.

"Bless me bagpipes." Scrooge's words caused us to notice a change in the colors around us. The colors and hues around us began to become more brilliant, and I could feel something inside me respond to them. Magic. That's what it was. It was all around us, and the abilities I had inside me responded to this section of the library. It filled me with the same emotions I always imagined I would have when I returned home to Mom and Dad.

Pushing through a flower-lined thicket into a meadow, I gasped upon seeing a strange creature that looked like a kid with horns playing some pipes on a rock. What shocked me was how his legs were of some furry animal with cloven hoofs. "What is that?"

"Honey, haven't you ever seen a satyr before?" Fantasy asked as we continued on, the magic filling me like music. As we climbed up a cliff looking over the beautiful land, a woman riding some sort of bird, either a swan or a goose, flew past us. She looked ancient, and was dressed in really old clothes, and yet she looked youthful and timeless.

It was Richard who identified her. "Mother Goose!"  
The name didn't mean anything to me, but she seemed like a nice person.

We were then visited by a bunch of tiny pixies about the size of Tinker Bell flew over to us. They were all blue and seemed to be made of electricity in pixie form. Fantasy just smiled at them. "Hello, my little babies."

As one of the pixies flew into Richard's hand I smiled as the little figure danced for him. She was so graceful and ethereal that I almost found it hard to believe I was seeing her with my own eyes. As she flew up to rejoin her friends a couple of them flew over to the kid and took his glasses.

The pirate book then drew his sword. "I knew it. They're all little thieves!" They then flew over to Adventure and snatched his weapon away.

"Oh, they're just being playful." Fantasy defended them.

"Playful? I'll show 'em playful when I get hold of the little…" The words of Adventure were lost as we laughed and gave chase to the pixies as they made off with some of our stuff. We chased then a ways down a road made of yellow bricks, passing a living egg who fell off a wall. Okay, I did not need to see that.

As the pixies flew towards a rocky hill, some flew into a cave at the base with Adventure's sword while the others flew above with the glasses. Richard wasted no time climbing up after his eyewear while the rest of us looked at the cave. It had some sort of foul stench coming from it, like smoke and gasoline. Scrooge's eyes widened as he took a sniff. "I smell treasure inside." With that, he entered the cave while the rest of us looked at each other.

Fantasy just grinned at Adventure. "Well, what are you waiting for? An invitation? Is Adventure too scared to go in?"

"What? Are you kiddin', sister? I live for moments like this!" With that the book marched into the cave to get his sword.

The kid then called down to us. "Guys. There it is, the exit."

Looking up, I could see the green sign above the top of a mountain made of books. It looked so close, the end of our quest. I was going to be a little sad to leave, but we did have other priorities to handle. "This is great. Once Adventure gets his sword and Scrooge finds whatever treasure is inside we can start climbing."  
"I don't know." My cousin scratched his chin. "This seems a little too easy. After facing mad scientists, killer whales, and cutthroat pirates I can't help but feel we're missing something. The final test can't be a bunch of pixies stealing our stuff. And do stories usually leave the goal unguarded in your books?"

With my eyes widening in realization, I shook my head. "No they do not. Usually when the heroes feel like they're at the end the story throws some hidden final challenge at them, and it's always harder than anything else they've faced."

"And I have a feeling this is going to make me want to face that whale again."

No sooner had he said that than the hill began to rumble. "Earthquake!" Richard shouted as he grabbed onto a broken ivory colored tree trunk. As several rocks broken and slide off I gasped in shock as some then slid up to reveal a pair of yellow eyes with red pupils.

"Gri's beak! It's not a hill!" Realizing what happened to our two friends I called in to them. "Adventure! Scrooge! Get out of there! It's not a cave!"

"You're inside a monster's mouth!" Jason added as the back began to light up, illuminating the outlines of our friends who were both running for dear life. Scrooge grabbed Adventure under his arm and dove out of the mouth just as a stream of fire billowed out from it.

As the creature reared its ugly head centuries worth of rocks fell off from it. Was it sleeping this entire time? As it stood and roared I felt my heart skip a beat as it opened its massive bat-like wings and stood on its hind legs. Was this what these creatures were like?

Falling backwards my cousin pointed at the monster. "What in Gri's name is that thing?!"

"It's a dragon!" I answered him.

"A what?"

"A beast of magic. According to Merlin's books dragons are some of the most powerful creatures anywhere. Some have been known to be benevolent and good. Others? Not so much. They can be the most dangerous predators in existence, and have been known to hunt people."

"Oh, worbazz." He swore as he stared at the creature. The dragon seemed to have noticed that there was a scared human boy holding on for dear life on the horn at the end of its snout, and shook its head furiously in an effort to get him off.

Oh, Gri. This was like Devil's Bayou all over again. Except this time I wish I was facing those alligators instead of this thing. Come on, Clair. Don't be scared. It's like Mortem says, the size of the opponent doesn't matter. Calling forth my Keyblade I pointed it at the dragon. "Blizzaga!" The ice shot out and froze a part of the reptile's foot, making it snarl and shake its head in pain.

I was about to fire another spell when my cousin knocked my weapon away. "Don't! Make that thing any angrier and Richard could get hurt."  
"Then what do you suggest we do?" I asked.

"Get him out of danger, of course." Scrooge said as he held up his cane. "Then we can turn this dragon into a nice line of boots, belts, and bags for me to sell."

Fantasy then turned to Horror. "Quick. Find page one thousand and one."

The hunchbook flipped through the pages at blinding speed. " _Arabian Nights_?"

"That's it." Tearing the page out of her the fairy book then changed the page into a red rug. "Get the boy." With that order it flew up towards the dragon just like Carpet back on Agrabah. Was there some sort of connection I didn't know about?

That was when I saw Richard fall off the nose of the dragon, screaming as he plummeted to the ground. Oh, thank Gri. The carpet managed to catch him just before he hit the ground. The dragon shot a stream of fire at it but the carpet managed to evade the flames. Skidding to a stop next to the books, Richard scooped them onto the carpet. "Come on, guys. The exit's up there!"

I could see there wasn't enough room for all of us and the dragon wasn't in a waiting mood. "Go, now!" With a whack of his cane Scrooge sent the carpet flying off while the dragon turned its attention to us. The old duck got in front of us protectively, but we wouldn't let our friend sacrifice himself to save us.

As the flames rained down on us there was a bright flash and I felt something sweep me off my feet. As I rode above the flames I gasped to see I was on some sort of aircraft. It was shaped like a broom but had braces for me to put my legs into. Oh my goodness. It was my Keyblade transformed into some sort of means of transportation. I don't know how I knew, but it was like it was telling me in my heart.

"This is awesome!" I heard Jason speak up. Turning to him I saw he was in some sort of small float boat that could only seat one person. There was no roof for him and Scrooge was holding on to the outside with his cane. "You okay?"

"It'll take more than a little fire and wind to get the better of Scrooge McDuck." The old duck said as we took off into the sky. Enraged that we were getting away, the dragon breathed another stream of fire setting the land below ablaze.

As we flew next to Richard and the books my cousin told him, "You guys head for the exit. We'll hold the dragon off as long as we can." Before the kid could protest Jason said, "There's no time to argue Richard. Go!" As he soared into the clouds with the books the three of us turned to face the dragon as it flapped its leathery wings to get airborne.

With a cry we charged in, energy fields appearing around us as we crashed into the beast. It swiped at us with its claws and tail and I was knocked back for a bit. As it breathed a stream of fire at me the front end of my glider opened up and fired a steady stream of magic that cut through the fire.

Jason then flew around and drove straight for the dragons head, the visor of his craft shifting higher in a way that made me feel like it was trying to reinforce itself. As the massive flying reptile turned to look at him my cousin crashed into the beast doing considerable damage while the rich duck jumped onto its head. "Let's see ya get the best of Scrooge McDuck you oversized gecko."

Shaking its head again it tried to shake our friend off of it but Scrooge was too experienced to be shaken. Grabbing hold of some of the horns over its eyes he poked the large eyeball with his cane. Flying over to our opponent I performed some sort of spinning attack that chipped some of the hard scales on its head.

With a growl it tried to end me with one bite but my glider seemed to react instinctively and I dove out of the way before it could get me. Ow! Okay, forgot the claws are still an issue. This was a huge creature and I couldn't think about every limb at once!

As my cousin dove towards the dragon again he pulled his glider back a bit and skidded along the back of the huge animal, chipping more scales. The creature roared in pain as it performed a spinning attack followed by a huge flap of its wings, sending the two of us flying backwards. A cry from ahead told us that our friend had been thrown from the dragon's head and was now falling through the sky.

"Scrooge!" Kicking my glider into high speed I dove towards him and managed to grab him. As he swung himself onto the back of my glider I flew back towards my cousin who was trying to get close enough to the dragon again. This lizard seemed to have grown wiser as to how to beat us and was now working at keeping us at a distance.

Opening its mouth it shot several fireballs at us which we attempted to dodge, though the last few managed to singe my cousin. As he grunted in pain the dragon then pulled its wings back and flapped them hard sending another big gust our way. "Dive!" Jason told me as he dove down to avoid the wind. For some reason I went up instead, and the gust managed to catch the end of my glider. Thankfully it sent me spinning forward.

"Careful, lass. That beastie doesn't want us getting close to it no more." Scrooge cautioned me as I rejoined my cousin. The dragon then fired several more fireballs at us to keep us away from it. As one was about to hit me the shields on my glider went up and kept me safe from the worst of it though I still got burnt. As I cast Curaga on myself I had to dive with my cousin to avoid another gust from the dragon.

Once we were close enough again the two of us went on the offensive again. Jason activated the ramming attack of his glider while I hit the dragon with my concentrated beam of magic. The roars of indignation told us were were doing lots of damage to the beast, and I daresay it realized it was facing opponents it couldn't defeat. Could it be that we might actually defeat this dragon?

As it swung its tail at us again I dove down while Jason flew up to avoid it and then I performed a spinning attack on its claws. While the old duck cheered me on I did a speed boost to avoid getting sliced or grabbed by those massive things. Once I was out of harms way I went and healed my cousin.

That was when the dragon decided to ignore us and go for much easier prey. As it spotted the carpet carrying our four friends I noticed something glint in the sunlight as it fell into the reptile's mouth. Oh, please don't let that be something important. As the dragon paused in its flight it breathed another stream of fire… oh no! It hit the carpet and now it was falling to the mountain!

"Richard!" Turning our gliders downward we began to head towards the exit- Worbazz! Something just hit us and now we were falling towards the mountain too! Can this day get any worse?

With a cry we ended up crashing into the side of the cliff, though our gliders were able to protect us from the worst of it. As we picked ourselves up from the books that had fallen on us, the old duck looked at us. "Well that wasn't as bad as some of the crashes my personal pilot puts me through."

Before we could respond something flew out and restrained both me and my cousin! As we fell to the ground I could only watch as the old duck turned only for the figure in the black cloak to backhand him and knock him into the side of the mountain. "Man, I've got to say, that was some impressive stuff you pulled back there. Turning your weapons into flying vehicles? Now that would be useful to have."

"Let us go!" Jason said.

Tsking, the figure explained, "I'm afraid I can't do that. IT wouldn't be as amusing if you were to make that thing any weaker than you already have. You see, my master has had his eye on you two for a while now. Ever since the Spatial Tremor ripped you away from Harthyn we've been watching you to see if you'd prove worthy.

"You see, a while ago my master was visited by some geezer called Master Xehanort who told him about other worlds. He was supposed to come back, but he never did. Of course that didn't stop my boss from gathering enough data on what he needed. Reaching the conclusion that old Xenny had bitten the dust he decided to recreate his work: a team of black-hearted individuals to seize the light of Kingdom Hearts."  
"Why are you telling us all this? What does this have to do with us?" I asked.

"Well, he wanted to see if being out here would blacken your hearts, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. So now we need to know if we should ignore you or try to do you in." Upon hearing the dragon's roars he looked in its direction. "I think freeing yourselves and slaying a massive beast would be a good enough test. Ta ta." With that the figure stepped back into a corridor of darkness and vanished.

With a growl Jason concentrated his strength into breaking the restraints that held him. I could hear fire whooshing and claws scraping against rock. With one final grunt he broke free of what held him and then used his Keyblade to free me. Heading over to Scrooge I pulled out a bottle of a potion he gave me and poured it down his throat.

As his injuries vanished the old duck began to swing his cane around. "Where's the cowardly bloke who thought to get the best of Scrooge McDuck?"

"Gone." Jason said. "Now we need to find the others before that dragon does."

With that the three of us took off running along the side of the mountain, scaling steps and edges to find… was that Richard wearing a helmet too big for him? It was, and he also had a shield and sword that he was using against the monster! What had happened while we were captured?

The books were all cheering him on while he fought the dragon. "That's it, boy. Go fer the gizzard!" Adventure waved his hook.

"Bite 'im. Bite 'im." Horror jumped up and down.

As the dragon breathed a spear of fire at the boy his shield managed to protect him from the flames. As he ran between the legs jabbing and slicing the dragon seemed almost amused at his attempts. Oh no. I broke into a run with Jason and Scrooge not far behind me.

"Watch out for his tail!" Fantasy's warning came too late as the dragon wrapped the tip of its tail around the kid. With a cry I tried to get the beast's attention on us but it was in vain. Shaking Richard viciously the dragon managed to make him lose the little armor he had. The boy tried to get an insult out, but the dragon then tossed him into the air before its jaws closed around him!

All I could do was watch in horror as Richard was swallowed whole.

I couldn't believe it. That dragon… killed a boy… In my head I saw his parents worried sick and trying to find their son. I could see search parties being conducted to find him, but I knew they would never find him. A family destroyed by a hideous reptile…

I could feel my anger flare up. No, not darkness. But was this darkness? That dragon destroyed a life who was just trying to protect his friends. According to my grandfather to kill a child was an unforgivable crime to the Hocamli. I may have only half the DNA, but I was still part of the Hocamli nation.

Mortem said my sealing away the darkness before caused me to lose my magic, my motivation. Could darkness be used for good like people have said? Well, right now, if it could help me defeat this monster, so be it.

Pushing aside all thoughts save for one, focusing my energy for what I was about to do, I took a step forward. "Dragon! I am Clair Fay of the Hocamli nation! I have witnessed you end the life of an innocent child, and to my people you have sealed your fate. For destroying a family and making it so his parents will never know his fate I declare myself to be your enemy."

The massive reptile turned its attention to me finally and narrowed its eyes. I knew it recognized me from fighting it in the air, but that just seemed to strengthen my resolve. Within me I could feel my anger merging with my desire to do right. If I ignored what this monster had done I would be unfit to be Hocamli. I could feel my cousin and my friend trying to pull me back but I wretched myself free. This was something I had to do.

"This day, dragon, you face a daughter of the greatest warriors to ever exist, and I swear by the great creator, the one who ended the kaiju battles, in the game of the great gryphon Gri, I will make you pay!"

A blinding light then surrounded me, and I heard clanking all around me as all across my body something cold and hard formed over me. When I could see again I was shocked to see I was now in a suit of red, blue, and purple heavy metal armor. Its style reminded me of the knights of Avalos, the country where my father came from. Billowing behind me in the wind was a magnificent cape that complimented my armor.  
Even the dragon's eyes widened as it tried to understand what had just happened.

Turning to my cousin and Scrooge I gave them one simple command. "Leave this to me." As my Keyblade appeared in my hand I ran towards the monster with a battle ululation escaping my mouth.

Recovering from its initial shock the dragon breathed a stream of fire at me only for me to cause a barrier to form around me. Thanks to it I was able to push through the flames while I closed the gap between me and my quarry. When I was close enough the monster whipped its tail around to wrap around me. Leaping into the air I twisted my body around while I swung my weapon with a cry, and the severed tip went crashing to the ground while my foe roared in agony at the pain I inflicted.

That felt so good!

As I landed I charged forward again, slicing my Keyblade across the legs of the dragon, and to my surprise I saw I did significant damage to where blood began to trickle between the scales. As the creature reared up on its hind legs I began to leap up the limbs of the beast, striking where I could- gah! It managed to hit me with one of its claws.

While I flew through the air my body instinctively recovered and I ended up sliding across the ground on my feet. As I glared at the monster through my visor I saw it breathe another stream of fire from its mouth at me. As the flames engulfed me I didn't feel afraid. In fact, a part of me felt exhilarated.

" **Raging Storm**." With that the spell activated and the fire formed into three flaming twisters around me while I hovered in the air. Charging forward I managed to burn the feet of the dragon as it growled in pain. My new attack wasn't completely impenetrable as the monster did a series of biting attacks that managed to nick me through the twisters.

As I held my arm where I was bitten, I cast Curaga, healing me and readying myself- come on! It swung its tail again and knocked me back, but I was able to recover midair again. Then, the world slowed down again as the ability I used to get out of Mermaid Lagoon kicked in. I found myself concentrating on the head of the dragon before the name of my next move came to my mind.

" **Lightning Ray**." Whoa. I was moving faster than I was used to, but that was okay. As I was coated in an aura of light I struck the dragon again and again. I felt like I had become a bolt of lightning and now I could strike the beast too fast for it to comprehend. As the attack began to wear off I managed to get a look at the eyes, and in them I could see my opponent was experiencing something it was not used to.

It was losing.

Snarling at me the dragon attempted to close its jaws around me. " **Aeroga**!" The spell worked enough so that it kept the jaws from clamping down on me. There was no way in this or any would I would allow myself to lose to this murderer. I would fell this dragon if it was the last thing I did.

With a growl the dragon switched tactics to blasting me out of its mouth with another fire spear that made me crash against the cliff. Okay, that hurt. As I slid down to a ledge it lunged at me to swallow me whole like it had to Richard. "Not today. **Glacier**." With that the dragon's head was frozen solid giving me enough time to leap back onto it before the ice broke and the beast slammed its head against the cliff.

I didn't have a lot of energy left for magic spells, so I had to make this next one count. As the dragon shook its head in an attempt to shake me off, I swung my Keyblade hard to do more damage. I was almost there. Come on, Clair. Hold on. I got an idea that just might work. Leaping off the dragon, I used the rock wall to push off and give myself extra momentum as I sped towards the chest of the dragon. With a mighty cry I swung my blade harder than I had ever swung it before and delivered a massive blow against the chest.

With a weakening cry of pain the dragon reared up on its back legs, and I prepared myself for another attack. However, I quickly saw the back legs give out and… oh no. Leaping to the side I had to bury my blade in the rock to keep myself from falling off the mountain while the impact of the dragon's corpse shook some books loose that fell into the abyss.

"Clair!" I heard my cousin above me as he grabbed my arm and pulled me up. "Clair, that was… Gri's beak. That was incredible."

With a nod, the old duck gestured to my slain foe. "Curse me kilts, you actually managed to pull it off."

As my armor vanished I noticed something small form around my neck. Was it a necklace? It was, and it felt like something that had bonded to me so someone wouldn't be able to take it away and keep me from calling on my armor. But by the first family, I had done it. I had avenged Richard's death and slain a dragon. I felt proud of myself and what I had done. I was sure my ancestors were smiling down upon me.

That was when I noticed the body twitch, and- oh come on! It was still alive?! With a cry the three of us were knocked up into the air and I was sure… wait. Why was its throat bulging? Was it another-? Whoa! A green plant forced its jaws open and caused us to crash into it, and clinging to it was… "Richard! You're alive!"

"Hang on!" He told us as the plant grew close enough to allow the three books to join us. "C'mon. To the exit!" As the plant grew and grew the green exit sign got closer and closer until suddenly the plant went limp. Realizing the danger all of us jumped off when we got to the top as the plant fell down below the clouds.

As the books all hugged the kid, he then reached into his back pocket and pulled out Fantasy's wand. Wait. Did she lose it somewhere? Was that what I saw falling in the sky? As the fairy book took it back, she said, "Baby, you're the greatest." She even gave him a kiss on the cheek to show her gratitude.

"We finally made it." My cousin then gestured to the building at the top of a mountain, an observatory which now stood before us. The great book spine-shaped oak doors then opened for us, revealing a circular room with a giant crystal dome in the center. From it rose a funnel made of light that allowed us to see.

Something then moved in the shadows. "Who's there?" Scrooge pointed his cane while a figure stepped into the light.

I noticed Horror and Adventure bow before the figure while Fantasy curtsied. "The Pagemaster."

"Hey. How did you get here?" The kid didn't sound too pleased to see him.

"Quit it." The fairy book warned him. "We're in the presence of the Pagemaster."

Richard had been through too much to be talked down. "I know who he is. He's the one who did all this to me. Do you have any idea what I've been through?"

"Tell me." The Pagemaster sounded interested in what the kid had to say.

"I was nearly torn apart by a crazy doctor. I was made a slave by a bunch of mangy pirates. And eaten, got that? Eaten by a fire-breathing dragon!"

"Don't forget almost drowned by a whale and attacked by Heartless twice." Jason added with a slight grin.

The hunchbook was on the ground pleading for his friend. "He don't mean it, my Pagemaster. He don't mean it."

"Not to mention being tossed, squashed, and scared practically to death." Richard finished listing his grievances to the one who sent him on his way.

The Pagemaster just smiled at him. "Yet you stand before me." His words seemed to chase away any anger the kid had.

"Well… yeah."

"Think, boy. What kind of an adventure would you have had if I'd brought you here with a turn of the page?" As the Pagemaster waved his hand over the crystal dome the light in the funnel began to waver as a ghostly image appeared. Wait. That laughter… it couldn't be...

I gasped when I saw it was Mister Hyde, but then it changed to the friendlier Doctor Jekyll. "You prevailed over evil."

The image then changed to Captain Ahab. "Ye looked Moby Dick in the eye, boy." When he was done it then changed to Long John Silver.

"Ye had pirate stuff, m'lad," the pirate captain praised him, "and don't no one speak any different."

Leaning to our friend, the Pagemaster explained, "If I had brought you here from the start you never would've found the courage to face your own fears."

"Holy-." Jason's words were cut off as the image in the funnel changed to the dragon itself. That thing was testing him too? But it ate him!

"And in doing so you've triumphed here and always." With a wave of his staff the crystal dome showed an image… Gri's beak! It was Richard, lying on the floor on top of a compass symbol.

Our friend was surprised by it. "Hey, that's me."

"That was you." The words of the Pagemaster were clear to me. That was who Richard used to be, but now he was someone different. His adventures had changed him just as they had changed my cousin.

"I'm ready to go home now-I mean, we're ready." Our friend gathered the books around him.

Rubbing the kid's head, my cousin said, "After all this, home doesn't sound so bad."

"There's so much waiting for you back there." Scrooge added.

Kneeling down I gave our new friends a hug. "Be brave, and know that I'm glad we were able to help you."

Once I stepped back the Pagemaster waved his staff again. "Your world awaits." As Richard and the books lifted up from the ground into the funnel, the wizard called out, "Godspeed to you, boy!"

As the four of them entered the funnel it became a whirlwind that drowned out their cries while a swirling mass of colors seemed to engulf them. Amidst the wind I heard these words, "And they all lived happily ever after…" while a column of light dipped down in the center of the funnel, taking our friends with it.

Looking through the crystal dome I saw Richard's body twitch a bit while three lifeless books slammed onto the floor around him. I couldn't help but smile at that. Richard had made it back home.

And soon Jason and I would be making our way back home.

As the image faded the Pagemaster turned to us. "Thank you for keeping him safe on his travels."

"He probably would've been fine without us." My cousin rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah, but I did not send you after him just to keep him safe. I sent you after him to help you grow as well."

Jason then did a double take. "Wait. You mean those tests were for us too? Why?"

"Because we asked him to." The familiar voice of Merlin entered my ears as he stepped out of the shadows with Yen Sid, Leon, and Aerith.

"You guys were all in on this?" I frowned at them.

"We're sorry we didn't say anything, but we were worried you wouldn't be ready to face Mortem." The cetra explained to me. "When I remembered the adventures in some of my favorite books I thought you experiencing them could help you."

Looking at the Pagemaster, Master Yen Sid explained, "The Pagemaster is an old friend of mine. When I told him of an apprentice with a love of books who needed help he agreed to bring you here so that your passion could help mold you."

"You were tested in so many ways, and you have passed." The Pagemaster smiled as he looked at my cousin while handing him something. "You showed wisdom in not just from your past mistakes, but the mistakes of others. When the time came you showed great strength and proved you can be a rock upon which great things can be built." Turning to me, he explained, "And you learned to find the strength within yourself to face impossible odds and emerge triumphant."

As he pressed something in my hand I opened it to see it was a keychain with three books the same color as Horror, Adventure, and Fantasy attached to it. I was tempted to try it out and see what Keyblade I got but our other friends began to speak up.

With a nod Leon said, "Long story short you two proved you are ready to take on anything that stands against you." Moving over to Jason he handed him something that I couldn't see, though I had a feeling it was a keychain.

"I'm so happy I got to help you grow." Aerith told me as she handed me a keychain. "I'm proud that I got to meet you."

Smiling at me, Jason said, "Clair, I think Mortem better watch out because he has no idea what he's in for."

"First you two must rest." Merlin told us as a door appeared. "This will lead you to the Mysterious Tower where you can recover from this ordeal. Once you are back at full strength Scrooge McDuck will take you to Agrabah, and then your greatest challenge awaits you."

* * *

 **I hope I didn't go overboard with Clair's fight with the dragon. I was trying to write that she decided to pull out the stops to follow through with the ideals of her people. I'm just glad I was able to write it so she didn't have to end up in the creature's gullet.**

 **Just so you know, YamiChaos27 suggested that Jason get the Lionheart Keyblade while Clair got the Gullwing. I wasn't able to write them out in this chapter, but hopefully we'll get to see what they can do. Now I need to make sure I come up with a design for a Keyblade from this world. The trick is getting it to contain themes of the three genres.**

 **Some of you have been wondering how I wrote these chapters so fast. Well, turns out there's a book called The Pagemaster that I think was published to familiarize people with the story before the movie came out. I bought a copy on Amazon a while ago, and it's been helpful in helping me get the chapters written. I did add some elements from the book that didn't make it into the movie.**

 **And with that we are at the end of this little side-adventure of The Pagemaster. Next time we'll be heading back to Agrabah where Jason and Clair will have a new showdown with the dark warrior.**

 **Just a quick note, I would've loved to have had them have an encounter with the _Hound of the Baskervilles_ like in the movie, but I couldn't fit it in. Best I could do was just give it a mention. **

**Well, it's late so I need to get to bed now.**


	33. An Unexpected Result

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and/or Marvel.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Eini, Johri, Braxton, and Gracie belong to Flautist4ever.**

 **Jason, Clair, and Yeller are mine.**

 **Special thanks to Flautist4ever for helping with Eini's segment, and to YamiChaos27 for writing Mortem's perspective as well as helping with cowriting the fight.**

* * *

Chapter 33: An Unexpected Result

Harthyn…

EINI'S POV

I sighed as I slid down in my chair. I had seen my life flash before my eyes.

It was unacceptably boring. Have I really done nothing with my life?

I had no real skills, and contributed nothing to life on the station. Maybe it was time for a change. But how? What could I do?

Everyone else was silent as we flew towards the station, and after that experience, could I really blame them? We had nearly been killed by a kaiju that had gotten into the city. What happened to the defenses?

No matter what I thought of them, my parents didn't finance the early warning system for it to fail like that. First thing I was going to do next time I contacted them was ask what in the world happened. My family didn't pay for systems to glitch up.

So what happened?

"Johri, what was that?" Braxton asked.

That made our friend look up. "What?"

"Back there, when the kaiju attacked. The way you spoke and acted, it was like you knew what Fushicho was going to do."

With a sigh, she nodded. "Right before my growth spurt, I had this strange dream. Someone spoke to me and warned that danger was coming. Looking back, I know it was Fushicho. She made me grow."

"Aw man." I complained. "So she's the reason why I'm now the shortest."

That made the others chuckle.

Clearing some tears that were forming in her eyes, Gracie asked, "But why would Fushicho warn a human? That doesn't seem like something a kaiju would do."

"I thought it was a fairytale," Johri admitted, "But my grandma and grandpa in Estrad Prya( **1)** used to tell me about how Fushicho was a protector of life, fighting with Gri to put the warring monsters to rest, and whenever times of crisis would come she would choose humans who were pure of heart to thwart evil and bring peace to the world." Looking down, she added, "It's why many Pryani worship her as a goddess, and why priests and priestesses of that faith claim to receive power from her." She looked up and scoffed, "I don't know why she picked _me._ According to the legends, her chosens were always beautiful, beloved, and sincere. Full of compassion and willing to sacrifice their own glory for the benefit of others. Now does that sound like me to any of you?"

"You got me there," I replied.

"Eini!" Braxton scolded me, "Don't be rude!"

"What? She's the reason I'm the short one now!" I smiled at her and winked, "Besides, her sarcastic streak is the only one that matches mine."

Johri snorted, "Thanks, Eini."

"How about instead of thanking me, you let me help you with that machine?"

Johri froze, "Uh… do you have any engineering experience?"

I stared at her, deadpan.

"... Well…" She sighed, "I don't see why you couldn't hang out with me while I work on it. An extra pair of hands might help."

"Science Station to Groundrunner, do you come in? Over." A voice then said on the intercom.

Pressing the button, Braxton answered, "This is Groundrunner. Permission to dock, over."

"Permission granted. Bay doors opening."

As we watched the doors at the bottom of the station opened up, revealing through the gravity force field several other shuttles like ours all parked. As we flew through the gravity force field we all felt a jolt as gravity returned. As we landed the shuttle, we heard the bay doors close behind us.

"Thank heavens that all of you are okay." Professor Yeller greeted us when we exited. The old man was getting on in years and despite the gut he was getting he kept his hair wild. "When I heard about what happened-."

"What did happen?" I asked him while folding my arms. "My parents are paying you good money for your work and research, and the security system failed to keep out a kaiju!"

"Please understand," Yeller soothed in the same voice he always used when asking my parents for more money, "Even the best systems fail without proper maintena-"

"Then what were your employees doing with the maintenance budget, hmm?" I put my hand up to cut him off, "And I know full well that there's a backup system for maintenance, and multiple backups for the backup!" I crossed my arms again, "Your investors are going to audit you so hard your accounting systems will take months to get through it."

The old scientist looked down his nose at me, "Those are bold words for someone whose mommy and daddy cut her off."

"I'm not going to be the only one if you can't tell me what happened to the system."

"The investigation is ongoing," He replied smoothly, "and the only people I owe an explanation are my shareholders." Then he looked down at me again, "Don't forget, I was in business long before _I made you._ " He smiled, "I know your genetic code better than you know yourself, so be careful or you'll be used to test late-development modification."  
"OOH! Promise?"

"Promise."

Clearing his throat, the leader of our team began to speak. "Sir, we've got something importan-."

"Not as important as what you've just been through. You've just survived two kaiju, and taking off from a planet can take a lot out of you."

"Sir, please-."

"Doctor's orders. Rest, and then we'll discuss whatever it is."

As Professor Yeller motioned for us to leave with his cane, I shook my head at him. "Lousy old coot. Invent one bomb and everyone appoints you leader of the world. If I didn't already hate you I'd loathe you, Doctor Madsane."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

Leroy and I arrived on the rooftops of Agrabah. This was my third time on this world. Hopefully I'll actually get Jasmine's heart this time. But first things first, I decided to wait there until those two miscreants Madsane was so interested in arrived.

"Why don't we just take the princess's heart while we have the chance?" asked Leroy.

"I chose this location to challenge Jason and Clair because of Princess Jasmine. Her being a Princess of Heart gives them further reason for accepting my challenge. And don't ask why, because I'm not sure myself, but I wish to give them a chance to defend her."

Leroy sighed in exasperation. "Why are you so eager to fight those amateurs?"

I had to think about that for a moment. Why was I wasting my time with them? Why was I so interested in the possibility of them giving me a real fight? All I was certain of, was my craving for a challenge, but for all I know, their successes are just dumb luck. I honestly couldn't give a definitive answer.

Soon Leroy got my attention again. "Hey, look down there!"

I look down to see Sora, Xion, and two tall men, one with spiky fire-red hair and one with long blue hair and an x shaped scar on his face. If I remember the descriptions correctly, these men were Lea, sometimes called Axel, and Isa, sometimes called Saïx, the latter of which I wasn't sure whether or not was a Keyblade wielder but I could sense tremendous power from him nonetheless. Definitely someone worth watching out for.

The four were walking through the town, headed towards the palace. If I had to guess, they didn't want to take any chances of me taking Jasmine's heart before Jason and Clair arrived. I internally sighed. This could make things troublesome for our fight if they decided to intervene, especially with Isa around. Probably best to set up a location away from the princess for my fight, and ignore her for now. I then heard them speaking and decided to listen in.

"You really think Mortem would take Jasmine's heart before Jason and Clair arrive?" asked Sora.

"He's proving to be quite dangerous," replied Isa. "Who knows what else he's capable of? Better to be safe than sorry."

"I guess I can't argue with that. Seriously that berserk state of his reminded me of yours." Well that was an interesting note to keep in mind for some other time.

"Remind me not to hold back against him then."

"I'm personally more concerned _for_ him," said Xion. "Especially after what Naminé told us."

Lea scratched his head. "Remind me again how she's able see Mortem's memories? I thought her powers only worked on Sora and those connected to his heart." Well that was definitely something that I wished to know.

It was Isa who answered. "Apparently a connection was made when they first met in Wonderland, though it was too weak to have made any difference. Surprisingly though it was his interactions with Kairi at Devil's Bayou that made the connection at least somewhat stronger. Just strong enough so that she's able to see what Mortem remembers. Unfortunately that's about it. She can't see what he doesn't remember, and she's unable to help fix his lost memories."

Well, that's inconvenient! I hear about someone who could possibly make regaining my memories easier, only to hear that it won't work for me just because I don't have a strong enough connection to Sora. I didn't even know what they meant by a connection, so what was I supposed to do about that? I grunted with frustration. No use dwelling on that. As long as I still have another method, I can ignore that.

Sora sighed. "But man, seeing all those drawings of his past, I can't help but feel bad for him. All the undeserved cruelty he went through as a kid. Hanging with a destructive crowd because he's under the belief that being a demon is all he's good for. Picking fights because he thinks it's the only thing that can fill his empty heart." Again I grunted with frustration. I did NOT need their pity. "Even Kairi feels bad for him. And she seems to really want to help him."

Xion crossed her arms. "I don't blame her, especially after hearing about the silver haired girl. Mortem himself said that this girl shares the same face as us." Why did I have to be reminded of that?

Lea put his hands behind his head. "Man, it's weird enough that Roxas and Ventus look like identical twins. But now Kairi has not one, not two, but now apparently three people who have the same face as her? Anyone have any idea who she is?"

"Even Naminé is baffled by this," said Isa. "It could just be a coincidence. Or there could be a connection that none of us are aware of. We just can't be certain as of now." Well these guys were no help. They've had their fair share of lookalikes and even they couldn't come up with a good explanation.

"You sure his memories aren't just more scrambled than we thought?"

"If the memories were false or mixed up, Naminé would know. But she's certain that's what the girl really looks like." Well good to know it's not just me being delusional.

Sora crossed his arms. "Whatever the case, even though she was only able to see his first meeting with her, Naminé seems very convinced that this girl is important to Mortem, even if he doesn't remember why yet. And after hearing about that, Kairi's been getting ideas that maybe she can somehow get through to him. She believes there's more to his story than what we know so far, and that maybe he's not as selfish as he makes himself out to be. She really wants to try and help him see the light, and maybe help get his memories back." I had to admit, I was a bit stupefied. I just couldn't understand why that Keyblade Princess seemed so willing to help me.

"If you want my opinion," said Isa. "I don't think she should be getting involved at all. I mean she is one of Mortem's targets after all. Not to mention, aside from the new kids, she's the least experienced fighter out of all of us, no offense Sora. What if her next attempt fails and he takes her heart?"

Sora looked down. "Believe me, I know what you mean. I don't want to get in her way, especially after all the work she's been putting to catch up with the rest of us since Xehanort's defeat, but I can't help but worry. I've already lost her more than once, one time almost for good. I...don't know how much more I can take."

It seemed to me that this boy really cared a lot for Kairi, and I had an inkling that the feeling was mutual. I felt an odd ping of jealousy at the thought for some reason. Something told me that upon getting her heart, he might become a serious problem.

Lea patted him on the pack. "I feel you, man."

"I wouldn't worry too much," said Xion. "Something tells me that out of all the pure hearts, Kairi's will probably be the most difficult for him to get."

"How do you figure?" asked Isa.

"Well, I noticed how distracted he seemed when he was just fighting me. And Kairi told me that despite their encounters, despite his threats, he has never once attacked her. And if that silver haired girl is as important to Mortem as Naminé believes, then it begs the question: Does he really have it in him to take the heart of someone who reminds him of her?"

It probably wasn't her intention, but that sure felt like a punch to the gut to me. Not because it was a jab at my capability, but because...it might actually be true. I just...don't understand why her resemblance to Silverhead was so distracting. Sure, they looked alike, and their lights felt similar, but I know for a fact that they were two separate people. So why was it so hard to take her heart? Not to mention she seemed so willing to help me, even willing to risk her own heart to do it. But why would she go that far? Should I really…

I shook my head. No! I cannot waver! I can't let this distract me! I must get her heart at all costs!

"I hope you're right," I heard Sora say. "I guess all I can really do is...trust Kairi, whatever she tries to do to get through to him." And with that the four continued toward the palace.

I turned away from them. "Come, Leroy! Let's see if we can find a suitable location for our duel."

The red critter gave me a curious look. No doubt he had been listening in as well. I gave him a look that hopefully would give the message that I did not want him to bring up the conversation. Soon he just shrugged, and said, "Okay!"

Before we left, I took one last glance at the leaving Keybearers, specifically Sora. It was...oddly touching to see how much trust he was willing to put in the princess. He seems like an honorable young man, I'll give him that. It was a shame his faith in his girl will prove to be misplaced. Sorry, Hero of Light...it's nothing personal.

* * *

JASON'S POV

The bazaar of Agrabah was just as I remembered, with countless merchants selling their wares to passersby. Scrooge did look over some of the items while we walked through the streets, making our way to the palace. I couldn't help but keep my eyes open. Mortem was here somewhere, waiting for us.

"Relax, Jason." Clair told me as we walked. "I don't think Mortem would want to put civilians in danger from our impending duel."

"Maybe, but I have reason to believe he won't hold back much longer."

"Then it's a good thing you two have gotten in all that training." Our friend said as he tipped his hat to some kids who were staring. "This time he won't know what hit him."

His words made me smile, but I still harbored doubts. If brute strength is what was needed to defeat Mortem Sora or Riku, or any of the other Guardians of Light would've done it already. And something about him… he seemed like he's only doing what he does because he feels trapped.

Like I was with my father.

"What have we here?" A blue man dressed in a strange hat and coat asked as he looked us over. "Scar over face, brown hair, pale skin. Accompanied by a fancily dressed duck and a girl with braids… why it's elementary." In a poof he changed back into the Genie. "Jason! You're alive!"

As he said that he gave me a great big hug that made me feel like I was about to pass on into the next life. "Can't breathe… can't breathe…" In a poof I fell to the ground while Genie hugged Scrooge and Clair.

"It's great to see you too, Genie." Clair was able to breathe better than I was.

Once we were released I was about to ask the blue guy about Aladdin and Jasmine when in a big poof we were transported into a courtyard that has grass and trees growing. Were we on the palace grounds? It must be because I didn't see anything like this out in the city. Sitting around a fountain were many of our friends, including the people we came to see.

Transforming into some strangely dressed man the Genie blew a fanfare for us. "Breaking news. Breaking news." He then changed into a teen with an old cap and overalls holding up a piece of paper that had the word news at the top. "Jason's alive!"

"Genie, we know. Sora already told us." Aladdin rubbed the back of his head, causing the big blue guy's jaw to drop.

"Well, I feel sheepish." At that he turned into a sheep.

Bowing before the princess, I said, "Princess Jasmine, I-."

"Please. Call me Jasmine." She said when she noticed my face. "Oh, my. I heard, but I didn't think it was that noticeable."

Rubbing my fingers along it, I said, "It's fine. My head's still attached." That earned some chuckles from the others before I noticed our friends were accompanied not just by Sora and Xion, but two men I had not seen before. "And who's the entourage?"

"Name's Lea, and this is Isa." The one with spikey red hair answered. "Got it memorized?"

"We were just here to keep an eye on Jasmine waiting for you to arrive." Sora explained as he looked at us. "You sure you two are ready to take Mortem on?"

With a nod, my cousin said, "We said we'd face him here, and we're going to face him. After our last adventures he's not going to be any problem."

"Well, you sound confident." Sitting atop of a tree, looking down at us, was our opponent. "You guys came like you said."

"And this time we'll-." Before Scrooge could finish I put my hand in front of him. "What're you doing?"

Looking at him, I said, "Scrooge, I appreciate it, but I ask that you let me and Clair do this alone. This is our fight, not yours. Please."

"This is what his heart commands." The Keyblade's chosen explained. "Let them do this on their own."

With a sigh, Scrooge gave in as everyone backed up, with Genie turning into some sort of person with blue clothes putting up yellow tape around the area. Leaping down from the tree, the dark warrior summoned his Keyblade. "I hope you're ready to make good on your promise, Jason."

With a nod, Clair and I got ready for the fight of our lives. As the two of us summoned our Keyblades Mortem wasted no time rushing us. I manage to stop his initial attack with my Keyblade before forcing him back. Before he could recover Clair and I rushed at him, slicing and jabbing him while we did so. With a growl, he managed to blast the two of us back. "Is that all you've got?"

"Hardly." Clair said. " **Glacier**!"

Mortem had a surprised expression as he was frozen solid. It didn't take long for him to break free, so I moved in. " **Firaga**!" The fireball caught him square in the chest. I didn't like using spells but it was time to step out of my comfort zone.

As he got back up, he looked my way. "So you're using magic now?"

"I don't like it, but I have to learn new tricks to get stronger."

"Then you _do_ understand!" Leaping at us with his _Vengeful Chaos_ Keyblade, he added, "You said you'd get the girl ready to face me. Let me see her strength!"

As I was pushed away he turned to face my cousin. As he leapt at her, she charged him and met his attack with her weapon. As they locked blades, Mortem seemed to smirk. "You don't seem to have as much fear as before. Good! Now let's see what it's worth." He then shoved her away as he gathered darkness. " **Dark Firaga**!" He launched several dark fireballs at her.

" **Firaga Burst**!" Clair generated a large sphere of flames on the tip of her Keyblade which then spat out a fusillade of fireballs, some cancelling Mortem's fireballs and others flying toward him. He managed to deflect some of them but few hit him in the shoulders.

Mortem growled as he leapt into the air. " **Dark Break**!" And he came down on my cousin with a dark charged thrust.

His attack managed to hit her, but as she cried out she grinned. " **Damage Return**!" The dark warrior was then blasted back as he held himself like he had just been hit by his own attack. "Like it? It's a little spell I came up with. Any damage I take gets inflicted on my opponent as well. No rules that say I can't make up my own spells."

"Bravo!" Scrooge called from the sidelines while Genie turned himself into four cheerleaders to cheer her on.

Mortem then chuckled. "Very interesting! But I wonder… What are the limits of such a spell?" He then charged darkness in his sword. " **Darkness Wave**!"

As he unleashed the attack all I could do was watch as my cousin was hit with a massive wave of darkness. As she cried out in pain, Mortem only grunted. Looks like he felt some damage but not as much as she did. After she collapsed to the ground, she forced herself back to her feet. " **Curaga**." As the green aura surrounded her her wounds vanished and she stood tall. "I won't lose to you. Never again."

"Talk is cheap!" He then pointed his Keyblade and a black hole formed at the tip. " **Phantom Hunters**!" Then a pack of ghostly wolves leapt out of the hole.

As they rushed at her her gaze went intense, focused. Like she was zooming in on her opponents. " **Lightning Ray**!" In a flash she was gone, attacking the dark warrior faster than my eyes could keep up. As for the wolves, every time she attacked one of them they would dissipate into thin air.

As she turned to face the dark warrior again, I noticed she switched keychains on her Keyblade. It went to something that reminded me of the _Pixie Petal_ , but it was green with leaves for the guard and… were those pan pipes for the teeth? Was that her Neverland Keyblade? In a flash it changed to a massive set of panpipes the Keyblade featured. Mortem seemed to raise an eyebrow at this, but then raised his guard. "Show me what you can do."

"Talk is cheap." She retorted as she activated the pipe's power. Massive bursts of wind combined with musical notes came from it, sending the dark warrior flying back. Before he could hit the ground she was behind him, repeating the same move. Guess Neverland Keyblades grant additional speed or something as I recalled how mine was used in the adventure section.

As Mortem was sent into the air, he growled as he transformed his Keyblade into its bazooka form and began firing upon her. She managed to avoid some of the shots, but still got hit by others right before the weapon transformed again. Now it was a longbow with some sort of eye scope on it to help her aim. As she pointed it at the dark warrior, she called out an attack. " **True Shot**!"

As she released like she was firing an arrow a magical bolt of energy flew from the bow towards Mortem. He managed to dodge it though- whoa! It just completely turned around and came back at him again, hitting him square in the back!

As her keyblade transformed back my cousin pulled out a bottle and downed its contents. It seemed to restore her health, but her breathing leveled out as well. Everyone was cheering her from the sidelines, and even that guy called Isa seemed impressed with her prowess. Gri, I was impressed by it and I watched her fight a dragon all by herself!

From the dust in which he land, Mortem started laughing. "So you have gotten stronger! Now this is turning into a real battle." Then he transformed his weapon into a form that we have not seen before. It was a large sword with a few spikes along its edges. "But now playtime is over!" He then waved his claymore around and to my surprise, five swords made of dark energy appeared floating around him. Then the energy swords darted towards both Clair and me.

As I dove to avoid the attack, I noticed my cousin cast a barrier spell around her while she cartwheeled and flipped out of the way. However we both got hit by some of the blades, resulting in the air being filled with painful exclamations. The dark warrior then leapt up as he raised his sword high as he brought it down toward us. " **Protega**!" To my surprise Clair cast the spell on me instead of herself! The sword collided with the barrier, which seemed to hold up pretty well, until it started slowly cracking.

As the blade finally came through the shield I threw up my Keyblade to block. "Ready to go another round Mortem?" I asked him.

"Gladly!" he replied with a chuckle. As we pushed each other back with our weapons he wasted no time rushing at me again. I was able to parry his blow, but he got me the second time. I tried casting another Firaga spell, but this time he threw up a barrier of his own, causing my spell to bounce harmlessly off it. Thankfully that was not my only trick. After putting down his barrier, he swung his claymore, which then launched a spinning energy blade.

I leapt out of the way, though my arm and leg were hit by the attack. As I bit back my pain, I decided to unleash a new attack. " **Poison Edge**!" Leaping up into the air I slammed my Keyblade down on the dark warrior, making him back away. He seemed to writhe in pain as the poison magic was taking effect. He then knelt down as he started gathering darkness around his body.

" **Eclipse Purge**." The dark aura around him seemed to seep into him while a massive black orb hit me in the chest, sending me flying back into a wall. As I groaned, I noticed he was no longer writhing in pain. Did that move just remove the poison from his body? "You're getting smarter, Jason! You both are starting to impress me!"

I have to admit, I did not expect to hear something like that from him. Come on. No time to get distracted. You're still fighting this guy. " **Brutal Blast**!" I dashed at him before slamming my Keyblade onto him. He blocked but a shockwave blasted him away.

" **Underworld Collapse**!" As he slammed his weapon onto the ground it caused the place to shake and crack, making me fall through until I was trapped up to my waist. Okay, now this wasn't good. He just approached me as I worked on getting free.

He raised his claymore, only to get zapped by a Thunder spell. Turning we saw my cousin was back on her feet, and she had a look that almost reminded me of when she fought the dragon. Mortem then threw a few energy swords at her. She deflected two before leaping over the last one.

"Clair, no! This is my fight now!" I told her as she landed. Before she could respond Leroy then attacked her. The little red monster tossed her to the side with his great strength and laughed until she righted herself in midair while pushing off the wall of the palace to leap at him. While this was going on I worked on pulling myself out of the trap Mortem placed me in. I transformed my Keyblade into the Power Gauntlets hoping the strength would help.

Yes! My Keyblade's power gave me the boost to pull free from the broken ground and as I leapt up I took a swing at my opponent. I managed to slug Mortem in the stomach, but he toughed it out before we both started swinging at each other left and right. In his eyes I could see the same fire I felt in me. We were both determined to win this fight even if we took each other down to do it. I don't know why but this made me feel alive. Soon, I managed to punch him hard enough to send him flying, though he quickly regained his balance. Leroy then rushed to his side as Clair rushed to me.

He then grin as he raised claymore and- Gri's Beak that is a LOT of energy swords. "This oughta make you dance! **Swords of Desolation**!"

As the blades rained down on us the two of us had to use all of our training to avoid getting impaled by them. I had to use a Thunderclap to blow some of them away, while my cousin had to use Aeroga spells. We did receive a few cuts from the onslaught, but soon the rain ended and Mortem's claymore reverted back to its Keyblade form. Clair and I were breathing heavily from exhaustion, and it looked as though our opponent was too.

"Y… you rea… ready to… call it?" Clair asked as she tried to catch her breath. "Had enough… yet?"

Mortem panted. "Well… you two are… certainly stronger than I thought." Pulling out a bottle, he gulped it down… wait. Why was my health and energy returning? "Consider this my thanks for a terrific battle."

"You know we still can't let you take Jasmine's heart."

"Not your decision." He then shouldered his Keyblade. "But if you wish to go another round…"

"If that's what it takes." As my Keyblade appeared in my hand again, I held it up as Mortem also got into a fighting stance. After a few seconds of stand-off we then charged at each other, our weapons channeling energy to unleash our moves upon each other.

Right as we were about to unleash our attacks on each other to see who the victor would be the craziest thing happened. A big cloud of smoke appeared from nowhere and engulfed all four of us. As I felt myself being pulled along by something Agrabah disappeared from view and was replaced by some sort of laboratory. Computers and generators decorated the room as did an assortment of weapons that looked just a half-a-century behind Harthynian tech. All around the room were soldiers dressed in black uniforms standing guard over the scientists working.

Before I could react a machine placed some sort of collar around me, and out of the corner of my eyes I could see the same thing happening to the others. When Mortem got his he tore the mechanical arm. "What do you think you're- aaahhhh!" He ended up screaming as he was electrocuted. Before I could react I ended up feeling several volts of electricity coursing through my body, and I could hear Leroy and Clair crying out in pain too.

As my cousin finished twitching she cast her eyes around. "Guys? Look." Following her gaze I saw that there were also lots of cylindrical containment cells around us, and all of them contained a Heartless that wore a collar like ours.

"What is this? Why do we have children?" A voice that sent chills down my spine asked. It had some sort of accent that I couldn't place. Turning, I saw… was that a skull? No, it was a man with blood-red skin and a head that looked like a skull. He was dressed in a big black trench coat with some sort of insignia on the shoulders, but it wasn't one I recognized. It looked like a skull with tentacles coming from the mouth.

"Mr. Skull, the machine locked onto specimens with high power levels, and this is what was pulled through." The man at the machine explained. "They could be connected to the other creatures."

"What other creatures?" I asked only to be shocked in response.

The red skull-headed man looked at me. "Do not speak. Put them with the others for now. I will see just how good they are."

"When I get out you're dead. You and everyone in here!" The dark warrior warned before getting more electricity.

That made the figure before us laugh. "You are an idiot. You don't even know who you speak to, do you? I am someone who has cheated death for over a century. I am the leader of the most powerful organization in the world, one that will never die. If you cut off one head, two more shall take its place. Hail, H.Y.D.R.A."

"Hail, H.Y.D.R.A.!" All the soldiers and scientists repeated back to him.

* * *

 **And there we have it. We finally got to a point that I've been wanting to get to for quite some time now. Two universes that should not have crossed paths, but did. Now the chaos shall begin. (insert evil maniacal laughter).**

 **To take a page from YamiChaos27, I thought I'd better explain the note I left.**

 **(1) Estrad Prya is the land that Johri's ancestors came from. If I remember a picture Flautist4ever did on DeviantArt I think it was decided that Johri would be of Indian descent to people in our world, so that would mean that Estrad Prya would have strong similarities to India.**

 **Now I'm sorry to say I have to take a break. I need to figure out what happens next and I need to get back to writing my books.**


	34. Avenging Oneself

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, or Marvel.**

 **Johri, Eini, Gracie, and Braxton belong to Flautist4ever**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27.**

 **Jason, Clair, Yeller, and Fushicho are mine.**

 **Special thanks to YamiChaos27 and Flautist4ever for helping me write this.**

* * *

Chapter 34: Avenging Oneself

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Harthyn...

"Okay, Eini. Remember, that this tool is for tightening and loosening bolts." I explained to my new partner how my toolset worked. "Careful. Remember you need to work with your tools, not over then."

"But they were made by machines." Eini rose an eyebrow.

"Never underestimate the bond between a mechanic and her tools." Holding up a tiny laser drill, I explained, "What we do is take raw pieces and use them to craft something special. Something new. From a new building to prosthetics, everything we have came from people working with their tools."

My inner focus was ruined as I heard Gracie coughing. "I-I'm sorry. B-but you talk about your tools like they're alive."

"SHHH!" I held my hands on either side of the drill to keep it from hearing my next words. Then I looked to either side, "I know they're just tools but I swear they work better when you're nice to them!"

"That's a good way to look at it." Braxton then said. "People also tend to work better when you're nice to them. You get more bugs with sweets than sours."

"We get the gist." I told him when I noticed one of the buttons on the device was flashing. Pressing the button I saw Jason and Clair's images appear, but I did a double take because there was a huge cut across Jason's face. "What happened to-?"  
"Hey guys." Clair waved. "It's us. We're just calling to let you know what's happened."

Oh. It's just a message.

"As you can see, our latest confrontation with Mortem didn't exactly go well." Jason shrugged. "From what I've heard this has been cursed to never heal."

I kinda grimaced at that. How could he be okay with it?  
"While we were training we ended up in a really cool library where everything ever written is stored." The half-Hocamli grinned. "It was so amazing. We had to face several characters from works of fiction even I've never read."

Was that even possible?

With a yawn, Jason added, "While there we were faced by another person in black, and they used this." Holding up a small device he continued, "Johri, Braxton, I'm sure you'd recognize this as a mind bug. This is undeniable proof that this person, or people, came from our world."

We looked at each other like that. A mind bug? Military grade technology? Was our own government compromised? I felt like we should tell Professor Yeller immediately.

"Well, we should be getting to bed. Hopefully we can talk before we face Mortem, but if not please be careful." Clair said as the message ended.

We all had concerned expressions as we looked at each other. "I'll call them back, see if I can get a hold of them." When I activated the device, these fatal words flashed on screen.

Error. Number not found.

"What?!" I refreshed their contact profile. It vanished. "No, no, no, no, no!" I shut down my holo-screen and rebooted it in admin mode. That slowed down whoever had broken into it, but just as I began to retrieve the data, It scrambled again.

Whoever was in my system kept writing and rewriting new code over where the contact data had been. I raced as fast as I could to undo their edits, comment out their code, trace back to whoever was doing this, but they were too fast!

Then I noticed a line they had just written.

It was a kill code.  
"NO!" I tried to fight it, but I was too slow, "WORBAZZ! WORBAZZ NO! PLEASE!"

"Johri, it's smoking!" Gracie exclaimed.

"WORBAZZ!" I screeched, abandoning the keyboard, "CUT THE POWER!" I reached for a bottle of instant coolant and turned to my machine, "Hang in there baby! Mommy's sorry!" I ripped open the access panel and splashed the coolant inside.

My machine burst into flames.

There was a hissing sound as the room filled with fire-suppressant foam.

I inhaled some of it and coughed violently as I stumbled for the door. I felt blindly up and down the wall until I tumbled out the door.

As I caught my breath, I looked up and saw my friends had also gotten out safely. That was a relief, but…

"MY BABY!" I cried, running for the room again, only for strong arms to hold me back. I whirled around, "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! I HAVE TO TRY TO SALVAGE HER!"

"Johri, I don't think it can be salvaged." Gracie told me. "Look at it."

"I'm trying!" I cried, shambling back towards the room. It was still full of fire suppressant, "And you don't know! None of us will until I get her outta there!"

"What's going on?" The face of Professor Yeller appeared on a nearby holo-screen. "Why have the fire alarms gone off?"

"Someone broke my machine!" I fell to my knees. "My beautiful machine is- is ga-aaahhhahh!" I broke down. So many months of work- Gone!

"And what was this machine supposed to do?"

"It's a personal project that meant the world to her!" I heard Gracie say while I tried to get my sobbing under control.

"I see… Has the fire been contained?"  
"Yes, sir."

"Very good. Until further notice, all personal projects are hereby suspended."

"What?!"

"Between the kaiju attack and this incident, today has been far too eventful. I told you four to rest, and you disobeyed me." Yeller's expression changed to one of concern, "All of your parents entrusted me with your wellbeing, and I wish to see no more unfortunate losses among our crew. If you four can't stay out of trouble, I must do what I can to keep you out of it." He narrowed his eyes, "Now, I suggest the four of you agree to these terms before I confine you all to your quarters."

One by one I the others gave in to Yeller's terms. With a sobbing nod, I also agreed to the terms which after acknowledging Professor Yeller hung up. Turning to the others, I snapped, "How could you? This was the only way we had to communicate with Jason and Clair, and now it's gone!"

"Didn't that seem a little odd to you?" Our leader asked me, making me pause in my frustration. "What are the odds that Yeller would've contacted us to cease personal projects moments after your device was destroyed?"

Clearing her throat, Gracie added, "W-we need to find out who the traitor is and fast. If I act now, I-I may be able to find them."

"Can you do that?" Eini rose an eyebrow.

Gracie's eyes widened as if she didn't mean to reveal that. "Oh, uh, well…"

"She already told me she can do it before we came back. Given what's happened I say we need to go ahead. Since they already made their move against us, I say it's time we made a move against them." Braxton then spoke up.

"S-sounds g-good. J-j-just need a little bit of time. If I start now, I may have something tomorrow."

* * *

That night I found myself wandering around what I now recognized as the jungles of Estrad Prya, and after what happened today I was sure I knew why. Sure enough I was soon parting some large fronds to find myself at the foot of a mountain with a temple carved into the side of it, and there was light emanating from every crack. Before I knew it I found myself at the center of the place overlooking a huge nest were sat the one responsible for my growth spurt. "Fushicho. I thank you for saving my life, and the lives of my friends today."

"When I choose a champion I will ensure their safety." Fushicho told me, and unlike when I was awake I heard her voice like it was coming from her beak. "I sensed danger when the security of your city went down to create a gate for one of my kaiju siblings to get into your city."

"You wouldn't happen to know why it happened, would you?"

"One of the people I warned you about sabotage your security. They know you and your friends are on to them, which is why they destroyed your machine."

"I knew it! So my baby was murdered by those villains!"

"Take caution not to place too much love in your devices. Wonderful as they are they can never replace the bond that exists between life forms. But that is not important right now. I brought you here to warn you that you must be careful. Your friends are no longer in this universe."

That took me by surprise. "Not in this universe? You mean they're…?"

"They're alive, but they're beyond in a place of what might have been if events in ancient times played out differently. If a war during the age of fairy tales didn't happen. I sense great evil there, and if they do not watch themselves they could find themselves assisting the darkness that exist there as well as here."

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

3 days later...

"Get back." One of the guards said as Mortem was shoved back into our cell, though we all still got a shock to make sure we didn't fight back as the door was shut. These guys, H.Y.D.R.A. from the way they kept referring to themselves, had to be terrorists like the Downtrod. Why else would they be forming an army of Heartless?

With a growl, Mortem slammed his hand against the glass wall that allowed them to see our every movement. "When I get out of here every single one of them is dead!"

"And how do you plan to do that? Everything we've tried has backfired." Jason reminded him. "Opening a corridor of darkness yielded no results. We can't get our magic to work here because it doesn't seem to operate on the same rules as back home. And thanks to you creating Unversed to try to kill the guys with they're using you as a living factory to produce more for their army."

"And what do you suggest we do? Leroy's been more help in trying to break out than you two have. It was only when that one scientist said something that they were able to restrain him for their experiments." Mortem's pose and tone caused all of us to receive another shock. "Will you stop that?!" Another shock. "Three days of this. How long do you plan on sitting around while they poke and prod us?"

Cursing under his breath, Leroy said, "It's not my fault one of them saw my cousin Stitch. But I was not aware that he ever went to the movies."

"Unless he didn't." My cousin's words attracted our attention. "If this Stitch did star in a movie, why would he reveal that he can't swim, or had a limit of lifting three thousand times his weight? That just doesn't make any sense to me."

"What are you suggesting?" I looked at him.

"What if… what if we're not in our universe anymore? Think about it. They know things about Leroy that they shouldn't know, all because of his cousin Stitch. Not to mention our abilities don't work like they're supposed to. What if their machine ripped into our universe and pulled us into another? Let's say for example that this is a universe where the worlds were never divided, and the Keyblade War never happened."

"Do you have any idea how crazy that sounds?" Mortem asked him.

"Crazier than seeing a man with blood-red skin and a face that looks like a skull- Divine phardu!" I flew back against the wall because I had just seen one of the most disturbing sights ever.

Outside of our cell was a giant head. It was seated inside some sort of hover chair, and I could see arms and legs that looked like they belonged to a regular sized person sticking out of the device. Was that a person? That couldn't be because the head was like twice, if not three times bigger than a normal person's. "Are these the specimens you were talking about, Skull?" The figure asked in a voice that sounded like it was part mechanical.

"Indeed they are, M.O.D.O.C." The Red Skull person walked up. "Three days ago they came through when we fired up the Realm Gate. All three of them carry a weapon similar to our mutual friend."

That caused us to look at each other. There was someone here with a Keyblade?

"At least we now know he was telling the truth with his offers." The giant head, M.O.D.O.C., looked at us. "Right there is a creature similar to the one from the animated film, and my processor has found on the internet that the creatures you've built an army of are from the _Kingdom Hearts_ franchise."

They knew about Kingdom Hearts? How? Why was it a franchise? Regardless, I couldn't help but feel this confirmed Jason's theory about where we were.

"Video games and animated films? Is this really the reward our leader has offered us?" The leader of H.Y.D.R.A. did not seem amused. "I think we should have a discussion with him."

"It may not be fruitless after all." The head added. "The devices you sent to the Advanced Idea Mechanics have been difficult to decipher as there is no known counterpart for their coding, but I was able to analyze enough. There are powerful weapons waiting for us on the other side, including a bomb so powerful it would make Hiroshima and Nagasaki look like they were hit by snowballs on a hot summer day."

Oh no. They knew about Harthyn and the teroi bomb.

That brought a smile to the Red Skull's face. "Excellent. Then we must find a way to locate these weapons and bring them here. The world would finally belong to-." His words were cut off as an explosion rocked the building. As a soldier ran up, the terrorist turned to him. "Report."

"Mr. Skull, our base has been found. We are under attack by the Avengers." The soldier's words made the eyes of both monsters widen. "Units five and twelve have already engaged, but they are being overwhelmed."

"Send all units out to confront them. That will give us time to ready the monster army." As the soldier ran off, the Red Skull turned to his ally. "You must leave now while you can. The Avengers cannot know we are allied with each other."

"I calculate there is a seventy-nine-point-twelve percent chance they will find out." M.O.D.O.C. told him as the air began to shimmer around him, "But there is also a ninety-one-point-seven percent chance that they will be overwhelmed by your monster army." With that the large head vanished from sight. Did it just teleport?

The Red Skull then looked at us. "You have just become more valuable to me."

* * *

We were waiting in the main lab when the doors burst open and the first of these Avengers appeared. It appeared to be a man in an advanced suit of red armor with golden pieces along his arms, legs, and sides. A glowing circle seemed to be in place of a heart on this figure. "Okay everyone. Hold your applause. The invincible Iron Man is here."

"Iron Man? He's more like a flamboyant Techno-Man to me." Jason whispered to me while the figure looked our way.

"Mr. Stark. Welcome to my humble abode." Red Skull said from where he was standing. "And where is the rest of your team?"

The figure just stood there while another figure ran in. This one was dressed in a blue outfit with red and white stripes running vertically across his belly. His blue helmet seemed to have white wings painted on them, and he carried a huge round shield with red and white stripes with a large white star. He started to say something to his companion, but stopped when he noticed our captor. "That's not possible."

"You think you were the only one to survive that crash into the arctic circle?" Red Skull's words made the H.Y.D.R.A. soldiers press the barrels of their guns against our heads. "I would suggest you and your team stand down before these innocent lives are lost. I can guarantee that if you resist all you will do is hurt them."

At that, all four of us cried out as we were electrocuted by the collars around our neck. Jason swore as the surge died down while Mortem started to turn to our captor only to be struck by one of the soldiers. I swear, the dark warrior just seemed to be getting angrier and angrier the more torture these guys put him through.

After a moment's pause, the man in blue pressed his finger against the side of his helmet. Did he have some sort of communication device? "Steve Rogers here. Everyone stand down. They have hostages." Once he was done, he took the shield and tossed it at our feet. One of the soldiers quickly picked it up and took it back to his master.

"Cap, you'd better know what you're doing." The one called Iron Man, or Stark, said to his companion.

"They have the upper hand." He answered before turning back to him. "Let them go, and you can have me instead."

"Oh, no. There's no negotiating, Captain America. Not when I am about to change the world forever."

"Uh, don't know if you've noticed, but the world has changed." Iron Man said. "Every single head of H.Y.D.R.A. has been cut off except for yours. Once we take you down, there won't be anymore H.Y.D.R.A. There's no room for you guys anymore."

"Fool. Do you honestly think I care at all about ruling this world anymore? No. I have harnessed the power of another. Look around you." At those words the room began to light up around us revealing the containers full of Heartless. "All this time while you have been chasing after the heads of H.Y.D.R.A. I have been preparing for an offensive unlike any the world has seen. I now control a force of thousands of monsters, and from what I've seen whenever they take an enemy down another one is created. And it's not just one type of monster. Now I have a regiment of another kind thanks to the young man you see before you."

As one of the H.Y.D.R.A. goons pulled Mortem's hair back so the two Avengers would know who he was referring to, our foe finally spoke his mind. "You're the idiot, Skull. You think that this army of yours will bring you power? All you have done is doomed the people of this world, and yourself. The Unversed only listen to me, and-." The rest of his threat was cut off from another shock. "Damn you!"

"As you can see, I have ways of guiding their thoughts." The terrorist said as his men aimed at the two Avengers. "Now, say good-bye."

"Wait." Jason then said. "There's one thing I still don't get. How? How did you get all the Heartless here? How did you get us here?"

"Kid, what are you talking about?" Iron Man asked him.

Ignoring him, my cousin continued, "Somehow I doubt that you went to the local store and picked up all these Heartless. So how did you get them here? Surely someone as powerful as you would want his foes to know how he accomplished the tools of their demise."

"I agree. Skull, how did you do this?" The captain asked. "Consider it a last request."

Thank Gri we were allowed to turn around and look at the one who held us prisoner. Pointing to the container we were first brought in through, Red Skull began to explain. "The Realm Gate is how I acquired my army. This island was once rumored to be the access point to another plane of existence, one not even the Norse knew about. As you know several civilizations talked about other planes of existence beyond the nine realms.

"While searching for the answers I came across this." Opening the console by the container, the Red Skull took out a glowing blue cube that I could just feel power coming from. It seemed to rekindle my magic, but I kept that quiet because I couldn't understand how something so small could be so powerful. "The Tesseract of legend, the Cosmic Cube. A tool for accessing this other plane of existence. Once I gained it I found I could take the power of another universe beyond our own. With this, I built my army and it was all thanks to the great earthquake."

That caught Jason's attention. "Earthquake? As in one that was felt everywhere?"

"So you know of it?" That made our captor approach him while pulling out a pistol. "Or were you perhaps the cause of it?"

The Spatial Tremor was felt here too? How? I ended up looking at Mortem, and his expression was just cold and impatient. He wanted out now regardless of whether or not we had all the answers. But that meant… Red Skull was working at this the whole time we were adventuring. Was everything connected to the Spatial Tremor?

"So you know of what I speak." The villain then pointed his blaster at him. "Maybe I don't need all of you after all. Just the one who can create more monsters."

"You just overlooked one flaw with your plan, Cherry Head." Iron Man said. "You've got an army. We have a Hulk. Now!"

Before anyone could react the wall was decimated as something came roaring into the room. As I fell down I saw it was a large green man with a body built like an ogre. He only wore a pair of torn pants while he pounded his chest, and the expression on his face… this thing was like rage incarnate. Did Mortem have a father I didn't know about?

Regardless, the soldiers stopped paying attention to us and began firing on the creature, the Hulk I think Stark called it. With a growl the creature ripped a console out of the floor and threw it at them, smashing them against some of the containers and cracking the glass.

As Captain America dove towards one of the H.Y.D.R.A. soldiers he wrested the gun away and began shooting at the other soldiers. So this world has lasers just like Harthyn? With a cry, I ducked down while I heard electricity spurting from the collar I wore. As I looked it fell off while something leapt over to Jason and repeated the process.

When Mortem's collar fell off, he looked as if Starlight had come early. "At last! Now I can make you pay, Skull!"

However, before he could move the Hulk slammed his fists down on the machine that was powered by the Tesseract. That caused the lights to flicker while the container doors all opened, releasing the Heartless and Unversed they held while the collars died down. "Oh, worbazz." Jason swore.

Mortem smirked as he snapped his fingers, gaining his Unversed's attention. "Send all these filth to the depths of Inferno!" His pets then started attacking the remaining H.Y.D.R.A soldiers. It was over so quickly we didn't have any time to react before the Unversed carried out his orders and enacted his vengeance.

Jason and I summoned our Keyblades and fought against the Unversed, destroying them in an effort to save the people who tortured us. I didn't want to, but adventuring everywhere just made me feel like saving these jerks was the right thing to do. However, even though we were able to fell some of the Unversed we weren't able to save the H.Y.D.R.A. soldiers.

The Heartless began to swarm over the heroes, but I had to fight back against a bunch of red dragon-like Heartless that were swooping towards me. "Thundaga!" I cast the spell that shocked a great deal of them, giving me enough space so I could start slicing and jabbing them, releasing hearts that flew into the air. However, before I could get my last one a beam shot out from the pile of Heartless, followed by several smaller blasts as the red and gold Avenger flew up and fired similar smaller blasts from his hand, helping to weaken some of the Heartless before Jason sliced through them.

Even the Hulk proved to be massively useful. As a Darkside tried to flatten the captain the green rage monster leapt up and slammed its fists into the face of the Heartless. Gri's Beak, that was powerful enough to destroy the thing! Just how strong was this guy? As an armored Heartless with a face in its shield moved to attack the Hulk ripped the arm out and slammed it back into the Heartless, destroying it. Some of the Heartless and even the Unversed seemed to be getting nervous around him, but were quickly destroyed regardless.

Mortem then cried out as a blast hit him in the back. As he fell forward we saw the terrorist pointing his pistol at him while he held the Tesseract in another hand. "You little brat! I will have my revenge on you and-." He had to duck as Hulk took a swing at him.

"Hulk smash!" As the big green brute raised his fists to slam them down on the villain he held up the Tesseract and a beam shot out and hit the green giant. With a roar the monster was engulfed into a cloud of blueish smoke and when it shrank in itself the big guy was nowhere to be seen! Did Red Skull just kill him?

As Captain America recovered his shield from a fallen H.Y.D.R.A. soldier, he cried out at the apparent demise of his teammate. "NO! Skull!" Knocking aside a Heartless that was coming towards him, the blue hero rushed forward with his teammate.

"You stay back! Skull is mine!" Mortem roared at them as he blasted them back with his dark powers. As he turned to face the villain, who was shooting incoming Heartless to clear a path for him to escape. I knew that look in his eyes. Mortem was going to try and kill the Red Skull while the Heartless were heading towards the exits.

"Thor, Hawkeye, we need you." Iron Man said possibly into his communication device. "We've got monsters heading to the exits. Try to keep them from getting out." In response some of the Heartless that had started to get outside were destroyed by bolts of lightning and something flying around.

"Mortem, I agree. We should tear the Red Skull apart for what he did, but now's not the time for that!" Jason argued. "If any of the Heartless get out it'll be a catastrophe!"

"Then you get rid of them! I will not be denied my revenge on the Skull!" He then began charging his darkness into his Keyblade as he eyed his target. "Darkness Wave!"

Switching keychains on his Keyblade for the one Leon gave him, we watched as his Keyblade changed to a silver weapon with a jagged guard, and a lion head for the teeth of the blade. Slicing through Mortem's attack, my cousin said, "I'm not going to let you put countless lives in danger because you want his head."

"So be it!" Raising his blade, Mortem prepared to attack my cousin. As the two rushed at each other the room filled with blades clashing once again, my gaze went to the Red Skull who was getting away. With a cry I charged forward, slicing through Heartless to reach the villain, while Iron Man flew forward to grab him.

Before he could a couple of Heartless that were like huge dark balls with arms and tails attacked him, forcing him to fly to the side so he could blast them. As I weaved my way in between the Heartless I was able to leap towards the Red Skull, and my hands closed on the blue cube he clutched in his hand.

What happened next was crazy. I felt power surge into me like a rushing river, making me feel I could do anything. I could see everywhere. I could see this universe, and mine as well. I could see my parents back home on Harthyn, talking about me and worrying. I could see the Red Skull pointing a pistol at my head.

* * *

JASON'S POV

What broke me off from fighting Mortem was hearing my cousin cry out. Turning, I saw her grab the cube in Skull's hand, and the world just seemed to explode around her. Suddenly we were surrounded by galaxies, constellations, and nebulas that seemed to swirl around us. Even my opponent snapped out of his rage upon seeing what was going on.

What was wrong with Clair? Her hair was pointed straight up and swirling like it was now caught up in whatever energy was coursing through her, and her eyes. They were an unnatural blue now, and they appeared to be glowing. Just what is that thing?

Oh no. Pushing away from Mortem I hurried over to where my cousin was trying to wrest the Tesseract away from the Red Skull who was about to shoot her. Before he could pull the trigger I knocked his aim off course so he shot towards the roof or into open space. I couldn't tell right now. Grabbing his arm I slammed my fist hard into it causing the sickening snap of bones to be heard.

As the Red Skull released his weapon I felt my connection to magic return as I pointed my Keyblade at him. "Firaga!" The force of the fire spell was enough to get him to release his hold on the Tesseract. However, my cousin then clamped her other hand on it. "Clair?"

"I can see everything!" She said. "I can feel all the power of the cosmos. I can see home, our friends, our families. Jason, this thing is power."

"Clair, you've got to snap out of it! The power… it's changing you. Remember who you are." I called out to her.

"It's showing me what needs to be done. There's so much evil in this universe, so much corruption. With this I can purge this universe of darkness. Purge our universe of darkness. It's more than power. It's more than knowledge. It's truth."

"Don't let it take you, cuz." Running over to her, I attempted to wrest the Tesseract from her hands. As I did I felt its power surge into me, giving me access to my abilities. However, I noticed the glow seemed to fade from her eyes and her hair stopped acting wild as it fell back around her head.

I could see the things she saw, feel what she felt, but it wasn't what I wanted. I could see what would happen if we didn't act now. The Heartless would spread from city to city, country to country, until this entire world was overrun by them and everyone was turned into a Heartless. I also saw what needed to be done.

"Clair, focus. We can stop this madness." I told her as I concentrated my abilities and willed the cube to do what I wanted. Get rid of the Heartless. Send them back to the Realm of Darkness where they came from. Don't let a single one escape.

As I thought about that I could see all the Heartless in the complex, and those that were trying to escape the island. Oh no you don't. Time for you to go home. At that a wave shot out from my cousin and I, and whenever it passed through a Heartless it vanished from sight and I just knew it was sent back to the Realm of Darkness. The wave traveled so fast that in a matter of seconds every Heartless was sent back to where it belonged.

Hold on. Who was that? I could see someone looking back at me. Someone with scars over his eye…

My vision was cut off as I saw the one called Iron Man standing in between Clair and I, the Tesseract being encased in a red and gold container that seemed to come from Iron Man's armor. My cousin then collapsed on the ground as I followed her example, the world going black as the Avengers stood over us.

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

Okay, wow. Just… wow. That was something impressive. It was like that cube gave one mastery over space from what I saw, and that was difficult for someone to resist. I could feel it calling to me, and when I focused with my powers it felt like there was no limit to its power. A stone with the potential to have infinite power…

But it wouldn't solve my problem. Even with limitless potential my powers told me enough. It could only manipulate space. It couldn't bring back my memories. And there was something I wanted more right now than getting my memories back.

Turning over to where the Red Skull fled during his scuffle with my rivals… wait. Rivals? When did that happen? No matter. I just charged into the hall where the villain fled. I managed to catch up to him as he was heading towards a door. I acted quickly and casted a dark barrier on the door, causing him to slam into it. "You're not getting away that easy!" I said as I transformed my Keyblade into its Death Scythe mode.

Turning to me, he picked up a blaster from a fallen soldier with his free hand. As he did a barrier appeared around us, further solidifying my statement. Only one would leave here alive. I swung my scythe, launching an energy wave at him. He managed to use his weapon to take the brunt of the attack, but it was obvious with his broken arm he was at a disadvantage.

Taking something from one of his pockets, he clamped it on the fracture Jason had given him. With a grunt I watched as it formed a metallic cast that set his arm with another sickening crack. With a smile he lifted up his blaster and fired some laser blast at me.

I managed to dodge roll out of the way, and when I was up I swung my scythe at him. He managed to couch under my swing before grabbing hold of my scythe. To my surprise he managed to rip it out of my hands, tossing it aside before firing the blast at me. Leaping over it I tried to kick the madman in the face- whoa! He caught that?

"You don't know who you're dealing with do you?" Red Skull asked before throwing me back. "I am the man that taught the world the meaning of fear! I led the organization that almost conquered Europe and the world! I have cheated death! I am the Red Skull!"

"And I am Mortem, and I will be the one to kill you!" Using my powers to merge with the shadows I slid underneath him and reclaimed my scythe. I then point it at him and fired an electric beam. "Corruption Shock!" That attack managed to catch him and sent him flying backwards

As the villain hit the wall, he pointed his weapon at me and fired again, but I managed to spin my weapon around, deflecting his attack. Time to end that little toy of his. Charging my scythe, I leapt up for another attack only to catch a blast from his weapon. I then threw out my palm gathering darkness. "Abyssal Gate!" I called as I generated a black hole intending to suck him toward me so that he would get hit by a powerful blast. I watched him struggle to keep himself steady as his feet slowly dragged along the floor. He's resilient, I'll give him that.

Pointing his weapon at me, he fired again only for me to deflect it again. That's when he pulled something I didn't see coming. Tossing his weapon aside he then leapt at me using my Abyssal Gate to gain momentum. Before I could attack he managed to slam into me, and to my surprise this guy was stronger than he looked! I crashed into the barrier with him gripping both my scythe holding arm and my neck, choking me.

"I have surpassed humanity!" Red Skull said with a smirk. "A boy like you is no match for me!"

The choking made it difficult, but I gathered darkness around my body before allowing it to burst all around me, blasting him away. "Never underestimate a Keyblade bearer, Skull." As he picked himself up I swung my scythe preparing to- whoa! He managed to catch my weapon and wrest it from me, sending me into the wall of the barrier as he did.

Before I could pick myself up, my foe pointed my weapon at me. "How fitting that one such as you is defeated by your own weapon. You didn't even fight half as well as my nemesis, Captain America. Good-bye, Mortem." However in a flash the scythe vanished from his hand and before he could figure out what happened I stabbed him in the side with it.

As he fell to his knees, I got up and grabbed him by his trenchcoat. "Here's a little tidbit to know about Keyblades, Skull: They always come back to the ones they chose." With that, I swung my scythe around and decapitated my tormentor. As his corpse fell at my feet, I couldn't help but feel proud of myself. I had proved him wrong.

No heads would take the place of the one that was cut off.

My Death Scythe reverted back to its Keyblade form as I heard someone approaching. Turning I saw the one called Captain America heading towards me. Raising my weapon toward him, I warned him, "Try anything and you'll share the fate of your buddy."

"He wasn't on our friend list." Iron Man said. "More like deadly enemy list. And it wouldn't be professional for us to attack the one who just did the world a favor."

I lowered my weapon. "Where are the other two?"

"Scarface and Pocahontas? They're still in dreamland so we're taking them with us. Find out where they were taken from and send them home."

This guy's attitude… did he take nothing seriously?

"Since you're the only one awake," said the captain, "you mind telling us what happened to you guys?"

"I was in the middle of a duel with those two when suddenly we get transported here!" Soon Leroy arrived rolling to my side. "The scarface believes we may have been pulled to another universe or something."

"Another universe?" Iron Man sounded like he was trying to find a rational explanation. "We know the Tesseract has power over space as the last time we encountered it a jealous god wearing mammoth tusks brought an army to New York. You sure you're not from another planet?"

"The More-dock guy didn't think so." I rolled my eyes.

That was when a new voice spoke up. "M.O.D.O.C.? You mean the monster that is a giant's head on an infant's body?" That comment was funny, though I refused to smile. Turning, I saw the new speaker was a ripped guy in armor with six metal disks across his torso. He also wore a red cape and had fire red hair. In his hand was a warhammer, but the handle was way too short from what I knew. "Where's the Hulk?"

"Thor, Hulk's gone." the captain broke the news. "The Tesseract was used on him. We don't know where he is."

"I don't think that's as important right now. We can find Hulk later." Iron Man said. "You said M.O.D.O.C. was here?"

Leroy than spoke, "That big head was talking to Skull about another associate. They could've been working with others."

"A group of supervillains? I thought that died with the Masters." Captain America seemed to take the word in. Was he too used to weird things to be deterred by Leroy?

"Masters?" I couldn't help but ask.

"A team of villains gathered together to fight the Avengers, led by the robot Ultron." Thor explained. "But we defeated them."

The armored avenger began to list them off. "Red Skull. M.O.D.O.C. Who else could be working with them. Kid, you mind coming with us?"

I had to think about that one. Part of me just wanted to get out of here, but I had no way of knowing how to return to where I came from. My Corridors of Darkness still didn't seem to work here. I knew absolutely nothing about where we were. These Avengers didn't seem like ordinary people, especially with the power I was sensing from Thor in particular. Starting a fight with them without knowing what they could do seemed like a bad idea. And they may be the only chance of getting us out of here. I grunted in frustration. I really didn't want to go with them, but my options were limited. "If you can figure out a way to send us back then fine."

* * *

 **And there we are. For those of you who are confused, the adventure takes place in Earth KHD1818, my version of the Marvel universe that I used for this story. I first explored it in the FanFiction Spider-Man: The Web of Infinity. It's primarily based off the MCU, though I'm also going to use the upcoming Avengers game from Square Enix as a source (though right right now it's mainly in making the designs of the heroes a combination of the MCU and the game). I will be honest, shows like _Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes_ and _Spectacular Spider-Man_ are also having a big influence on Earth KHD1818. I just wanted to avoid copying and pasting the MCU here especially with Square Enix's game coming out next year. **

**For those who don't know the Masters that were mentioned are the Masters of Evil from the comics, a team of supervillains dedicated to destroying the Avengers. I refer to them as the Masters because they don't see themselves as evil. They actually believe what they're doing is for the greater good, and that in my opinion makes them much more evil. Still working out who is part of that team in this universe, so I'll let you know when the final roster is decided. Hopefully next chapter.**

 **No, Red Skull and M.O.D.O.C. are not part of the Masters. They've formed another team, which I can't help but feel has a strong chance of being revealed next chapter.**

 **For those of you who are interested, I do have all up on my profile asking which heroes you want to see as part of this universe's Avengers. If you haven't yet be sure to check it out. You can vote up to six times.**

 **Until next time, see you.**

 **Edit: Divine phardu is a Harthynian phrase roughly translating to "Holy crap" or the other word.**


	35. Challenging conclusions

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and/or Marvel.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27 (thanks for the help writing out Mortem's section).**

 **Johri, Eini, Gracie, and Braxton belong to Flautist4ever. Thanks again for allowing me to help write the sections with your characters.**

 **The Neo-Thirteen, Professor Yeller, and Jason and Clair are mine.**

* * *

Chapter 35: Challenging conclusions

BRAXTON'S POV

As I followed Gracie through the station to the main computer, I couldn't help wondering how she managed to trick the system. That had to have taken a lot of work, and I found it hard to believe that she did it on her own. She had to have had help from somewhere, but who would've helped her? Or maybe she really was a genius who had found all the loopholes and cracks in the system. If that was the case, I knew who I wanted to be my Chief of Security. But would she accept the role?

Maybe the best way was to ask her. I hoped she'd say yes when the ti-

She motioned for me to slip under the blindspot on one of the cameras, and I realized we were almost to the main computer. Had we really moved that quickly?

"We have to move fast," She whispered, inching for the door. Her nose scrunched up in concentration and a strand of her hair fell in front of her face, "Once I open this door, we have five, ten minutes tops before Yeller catches us." She turned back to me, her eyes intense, "Ready?"

I nodded. She grabbed my hand, and my heart sped up in anticipation. She opened the door and we dashed to the main computer. Setting herself in the chair she began typing away at the console. "Second day of Roba, Second day of Roba… who was not where they were supposed to be?"

As she focused on the data that began to be pulled up from the system archives, I watched as a map of the entire station was pulled up. So it wasn't made up. This security system was in place to keep track of where everyone was at any given time. As the map reverted to the date when we lost Jason and Clair I could see their dots outside the station while I was [insert where he would've been] while Gracie was with Yeller at the time.

Then the screen showed everyone being jolted around from that space quake, the one that affected the planet too. Then Jason and Clair's trackers were gone, and I noticed one by the airlock that wasn't there before. "Santos?"

"Why was Santos there? Was he the one responsible?" Typing on the computer, she added, "Let's check to see if there were any other… wait. What's this?"

"Reunification Initiative?" I read the file she found. "Huh? Reunify what?"

"Let's find out." Clicking on it, plans and video files appeared that dated all the way back to… "Fuchi twenty-fourth? From last year?"

As she opened the oldest video file, Yeller's face appeared on the screen. "Fuchi twenty-fourth, in the year Eighty-Nine K.A., or since the first kaiju awakened. I was in my lab devising a way to eliminate the kaiju for good when I got the surprise of my life. The shadows seemed to gather together to form a doorway into a dark place, and from that door came a man. He called himself Master Xehanort and he told me troubling things, about how Harthyn is not the only world in existence. He didn't mean other planets, but parallel existences, realities with their own laws and histories, and how all of them were heading to disaster.

"He said he was creating a team of thirteen individuals to recreate an ancient war to fight for the source of all power. He called this power Kingdom Hearts. This intrigued me, and I did some research into ancient temple markings in Estrad Prya, Avalos, even Moruga. Their oldest texts and legends did hint of some sort of conflict for all creation, and it would appear this struggle even predated the existence of the kaiju."

We looked at each other at that. A conflict that predated the kaiju? Was that even possible? This was changing everything I knew about Harthyn.

The next video then played. "Phiran seventeenth, in the year Eighty-Nine K.A. I have not heard back from Master Xehanort, and per his instructions I must assume he has failed. Nevertheless, I know what I must do. The other worlds, he has said they are far more primitive than Harthyn and the people live without our conveniences. So now I have a new mission: I must take the technology to these other worlds. But first I must find a team I can trust to remain dedicated to the cause. I must form my own Organization XIII."

She paused from that and looked at me. "Braxton? Do you know how many of us were brought up here?"

"Twelve students, from different grades." I listed off. "Add Yeller and that…"

"Makes thirteen. There were thirteen of us on here. Gri above, what if this place was a setup for this Organization XIII?" As we looked through the videos, one stood out that I had to do a double take. "Braxton, this was after our friends vanished." When she opened the file…

"Roba third, in the year Ninety-Two K.A." Yeller said on screen. "Yesterday the strangest thing happened. My station felt a tremor that was also felt on the planet. I've spent most of the day on damage control, reassuring the people that nothing was wrong, when in truth I have lost two candidates for the New Organization XIII, or Neo-Thirteen as I've started to term the team. However, while Isabel Conner searched outside the station for clues as to what happened she stumbled across a body. Scans showed faint vital signs so I'm keeping him in a regenerative tank until his wounds recover.

"Umi fourth, in the year Ninety-Two K.A. The subject has fully recovered from his wounds, but has no memory of who he is or where he came from. If he is from another world I cannot tell. I do know when he tried to kill George Rex upon waking that he called forth a Keyblade. For the last few months I've been contacting Radiant Garden to keep them distracted. Today I will send Mortem over to Radiant Garden to destroy the device before they can figure out it does not work, and I've been having them build a light stage. Still irks me that these worlds have found technology that we have not, like being able to move from one world to another."

Wait, what?!

Before I could react, Gracie closed the documents on the computer and some code flashed across the screen. She jumped up, "We have to go. Now!"

"Wha-"  
"Yeller's on his way." She grabbed my hand and bolted for the door. I nearly tripped over my own feet before I caught up with her. I felt heat rush to my cheeks as she pulled me along, but I couldn't dwell on it. We had to escape. As we bolted out the door, we made sure it was as we found it before we took off down the hallway away from my ex-idol. The man who the world looked up to… the one who improved the lives of everyone… he was evil.

We turned a corner and she pulled me into another room. It was dark, but once my eyes adjusted, I recognized it as the Security Archive room. "Gracie, why are we here?"

"To hide, duh!" She strode over to the screen where security feeds from around the station were cycling across several screens, "This is the one place we can access where there aren't any cameras, and we have to scrub the feed from the Main Computer Room."

"Right. How fast can you do that?"

"Doing it now."

I watched as several images flashed across the screen, only to be immediately deleted. Suddenly, one image froze. Gracie stared at it in disbelief, and I could see her hands shaking. Then I realized what the camera had caught. It was the moment she had taken my hand before we entered the main computer room. I'd never seen that look on my face before. She pressed a button, and it was gone.

We then cast a look at each other, unsure of what to think or say.

I cleared my throat, "Is… Is all the footage gone?"

"Yes. System's been cleared, and by now is generating fake footage to make it seem like nothing happened."  
I nodded and looked away, "G-good." I could feel my embarrassment rising. How could I have been so blind to Yeller's game all this time? The assignments, the trips to the surface. It was all a scam. He had been using us from the start.

My blood ran cold. What would happen when we were no longer useful? I didn't intend to find out. "We have to get off this station."

Gracie nodded, "We have to tell- We have to tell the others."

"We have to tell _everyone._ "

"What about George? And Isabel? They seem to be in on this unless I heard those files wrong."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and groaned, "You're right. And we still have to figure out who the spy is."  
"You still think there's a spy?" She sputtered in frustration, "After what we just learned? Yeller himself set all this up! If there ever was a spy, well, maybe we should work with h- them!"

"Work with _them_?! Gracie, whoever the spy is, they're working with the _Downtrod!_ " Shaking my head, I said, "First, we need to get our friends and then find some way off this station. Then we'll worry about who we can trust. Sound fair?"

"... Yes." She looked down, "That's… fair…"  
"I promise," I lowered my voice and put my hand on her shoulder, "When we're off this station, we'll consider _all_ our options. If I have anything to say about it, we'll find a way."  
She stared blankly at me for a moment. Then she leaned up and kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you… I needed some… reassurance."

I stared at her, the heat rising under my collar. I coughed, "O-oh-" My voice cracked, "Reassurance of what?"

"That everything will work out. That we can make it to tomorrow when we can convince the others we need to get back to the planet."

I then remembered Johri and Eini were working on something important for Yeller right now, and would not be available for the time being. Too dangerous to go to them when he could be with them, or one of his minions. "Do you think you can prep a shuttle to get us off in the meantime?"

"There is one scheduled soon. I'll see if we can hijack it and get off. Gri, I wish we could have a way to get to one of these other worlds."

"Who knows?" I replied, "Maybe Jason and Clair can show us around once all this is over."

Nodding, my friend then said, "You should wait here for a bit. Once some time has passed you should head back to your quarters so no one suspects anything."

She cautiously opened the door, and all the color drained from her face.

"Gracie and Braxton sitting in a tree," George Rex sing-songed as he pushed his way into the Security Archive Room, "Well, you know the rest."

"It's not what you think!" Gracie blurted out.

George scoffed, "Well, I think it looks like you two snuck into the only room without cameras." George crossed his arms, "Now why would you do that if you weren't looking for a little privacy?" George glared at us, "Unless you were both traitors?"

"You got us." Gracie said, causing me to look at her. Was she seriously going to sell us out? Come on. I thought…

"We were looking for some privacy."

Huh?

She looked down, blushing up to her ears. "I-it's my fault, really…"

I could feel myself sweating, "G-Gracie, no…"

George laughed, "Of course you two couldn't keep your hands off each other! I don't know what else Yeller expected from nomgers like you!"

Okay, now I was insulted. Using such a derogatory term on us? I glared at him, "Last I checked, relationships aren't forbidden onboard this station." To prove my point, I put an arm around Gracie's shoulders, "What's your angle?"

"Relationships aren't encouraged either," George replied, "because they can be quite… volatile… under the right circumstances."

Gracie tensed. I gritted my teeth, "Are you threatening us, George Rex?"

George shrugged, "Am I?"

"It feels like a threat," Gracie took a step forward, and shakily held onto my chest.

"I'm just giving you some friendly advice: Know your place, nomger." He crossed his arms and lifted his chin, "You can study your whole life and work until you die, but you're meaningless. You weren't engineered for anything, so you're going to be nothing. Just like everybody else in your stupid, obsolete family." He met my eyes, "Honestly, it would be for the best if the rest of you followed in your brother's footsteps."

I clenched my fist, ready to put out his lights for that comment. But I didn't. I knew if I hit him, I'd be put in the brig, expelled from the program, and lose any chance I still had at the future I wanted.

I glared at him, "Let. Us. Through. You won't catch us like this again, and now we're later for our duties than we would have been if you hadn't interrupted us."

George smirked and stepped aside, "That's better."

Gracie put her hand over my clenched fist as we walked away. My only regret was George was still standing.

* * *

EINI'S POV

"Make sure you tighten that bolt as hard as you can. It needs to stay there," Johri instructed while I strained against a wrench.

I wiped a little bit of sweat off my brow, "Think that's good?"

Johri walked over and tightened it an extra quarter-turn like it was nothing, "Now it's good."

I looked down.

"Hey, you're getting better." Johri patted me on the back, "Before you know it, I'll trust you with the screwdriver. And then the hammer!"

I smirked, "No way."

She snorted, "Well, it's either you or Gracie-"

"... Fair enough."

"So… What prompted you to want to help me out?" Johri asked, turning back to soldering something to a circuit board.

"Oh, you know. Being useless gets boring."

"Please," Johri quit soldering to chuckle, "You were useless for months and it never bothered you before."

I sighed, "...Okay. Full disclosure?"

Johri turned around, crossed her legs, and leaned forward with her elbow on her knee, "Why not?"

"I don't know what happened, but… I really want Braxton to notice me."

Johri gaped, "You're _kidding!_ This from the same person who only joined us because she had nothing better to do?"

"Crazy, right?" I deadpanned. Then I sighed, "Not that I'd be his type."

"What even is his type?" Johri wondered aloud, "I couldn't think of any common denominator with everyone he rejected while we were planet-side..."

"Wait," I noticed a far-off look in Johri's eyes, "Do you like him, too?"

Johri furrowed her brow, "Well, yes… now. I don't know what changed. I was indifferent when we started this whole thing. Sure, he's always been the most attractive person onboard the station, but that's not exactly hard to pull off so I didn't think much of it."

I chuckled, "You got me on that one! After him, the next best options are Hamen and Santos."

Johri shrugged, "Come on, you gotta admit Jez is better-looking than either of those two."

"With _that_ sense of style?" I made a face, "Puh-lease. I'll take Hamen's stupid haircut over her dumb parachute pants any day!"

* * *

JEZEBEL''S POV

"Parachute pants?" I frowned. "Who does that girl think she is? At least my hair doesn't look like someone plopped candy on it."

To my left, Hamen was sulking, "My haircut isn't stupid, it's cool!"

From my right, Santos looked at his friend skeptically, "I mean… it _is_ kinda…"

"Dude! Mowhawks are cool, so obviously having three of them is cooler!"

"Enough." George said. "We can't let these punks know we're on to them. Just keep listening. We need to know how much they know. It was fortunate that we were able to destroy their device."

"Why did we destroy it again?" I asked. "Just seemed pointless to me."

"Because there's a Heisenburg Compensator in the cargo on the next supply shuttle." George reminded me. "If Johri got a hold of that she would've brought those two back to Harthyn and exposed the professor as a liar." He turned to the screen, "Now, what did I miss while I was putting the other two in their place?"

I leaned forward and crossed my arms, "Only the juiciest gossip this station's ever seen. Turns out Braxton's popular with ladies who have no taste."

"You're just upset because your taste is worse than Eini's and you finally got called on it," Santos teased.

"Too bad for them. His taste runs Morugan." George raised his head smugly.

"Ugh! You're not saying-"

"Guess who I caught in the Security Archive Room?" George scoffed, "No surprise coming from those two."

"...Ew." I wrinkled my nose.

"What makes you so sure she's Morugan?" Robert asked with his dumb haircut.

"Because I saw her outside of her disguise," Santos lightly smacked Robert upside the head, "Remember?"  
"Oww…" Robert rubbed his face, even though Santos had barely touched him, "No need to be a jerk."

"Anyway," George continued, "There's no way Braxton knows she's the spy. Or if he does, he's doing some incredible mental gymnastics to convince himself otherwise. If he really knew, he'd probably turn her in himself."

That made me smile. Oh, I cannot wait to see his face when everything he thought he knew about her came crashing down. "So what's our next move?"

"That depends on what else we learn from Johri and Eini." George replied.

"Oh, don't forget George!" Johri's voice came through the speaker.  
"Ugh! Can he get over being engineered already?" Eini whined, "My parents could have bought out his parents three times for what they paid for me and I'm just as much of a disappointment as he is."

George did not look amused. "I'll show you disappointment."

"Hold." Robert told him. "We can't let them know we're on to them. Not yet."

"You're right. We need to keep listening."

"Yeah, they're all pretty awful," Johri's voice carried through the speakers, "But at least they don't sound like Mortem. I still can't believe he went and scarred Jason like that, or that Jason was okay with going to face him again in Agrabah."

So that's where Mortem went. Yeller would be pleased to know that.

"I just wish we could've gotten a hold of them one last time before the machine broke." Eini then spoke up. "Now we have no way to communicate with them."

"Wait. We do." Johri spoke up. "Remember? Merlin gave some enchantment so we can contact Radiant Garden. We can call them and ask if they can put us through to the others."

They have a way to communicate with the other worlds we didn't know about? That was a surprise. I was kind of itching to move in, but then we wouldn't learn anything.

So we waited while the pink-haired girl activated her holo-screen. "Hello? Hello? Merlin? Cid? Is anyone there?"

"Hello? Who's this?" I heard the voice of an old man answer.

"It's us. Clair and Jason's friends." Eini explained. "We were wondering if everything was okay. We got a message from them, but haven't heard back since."

"That's just the craziest thing. We don't know. Scrooge got back blabbing about blue smoke engulfing them with Mortem. Long story short, they've just vanished."

"Vanished? How?" Eini blurted, "I thought you guys could communicate anywhere in the universe with them!"  
Johri muttered something the microphones didn't pick up.

"Well, we can. The old coot says he can sense they're still alive, but that's it. He can't find them anywhere. It's like they're no longer in creation."

"So she was right…" Johri trailed off before flopping down in a chair that was way too small for her, "There's nothing we can do to get them back now…"

"Wait, who's right?"

"Fushicho."

That caught all of our attention. The kaiju of Estrad Prya? I remember she attacked Bludgeonhead at the time these four were returning to the station, but why was Johri communicating with a monster?

"How have you been communicating with her?"

I heard Johri take a breath. "In my dreams. She's been sending me messages while I sleep, and instructing me on certain things. Like she-."

"Johri! Eini!" We then heard Braxton enter the room. "I've been looking all over the station for you two."

"Why? What's wrong?" I heard Eini ask. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I heard someone else enter the room. Gracie? "We might as well have. I-it's Yeller. He's insane."  
"Come on. You know how the media printed him when he first proposed his-." Eini began to dismiss the statement.

"No. He's really insane. He's behind Mortem, and the cloaked figures." Braxton blurted out.

"What?" The old man over the call asked. "Then why'd he build a machine to get them back?"  
"It was a fake." Gracie said. "Braxton and I hacked into his computer and found lots of video logs. They explained everything because he was in contact with a man called Xehanort."

I heard the old man sputter over the call. "Xehanort? Are you sure?"

"Who is Xehanort?" Eini asked.

"Xehanort was a Keyblade Master, but he went crazy and believed he had to save the universe by resetting it. Started a war just to do it." The person they were calling said. "He split his heart into thirteen pieces and inserted them into other people."

Now the rich girl sounded shocked. "Thirteen… pieces?"

"And guess how many were on this station?" The upstart then answered his question. "Thirteen. This entire place was a trap, a place for Yeller to build a new Organization XIII."

"Then was he behind that strage quake too?" The Pryani girl asked.

"No, it was felt here too." The man on the other end said. "The Spatial Tremor, we began to call it. You four need to get out of there. Find somewhere safe and hunker down. We'll double our efforts to find those two and keep them from getting back. Now git. Waiting isn't a luxury you can afford right now!"

"Professor," I heard George say while I gaped, "They know. What are your orders?"

"Execute all four of them," Yeller instructed.

* * *

JASON'S POV

Earth KDH1818

Saarin 5, 91 KA...

Oh, man. I felt like I tried to swallow a waterfall while running up and down a skyscraper without the aid of a lift. Every muscle in my body was complaining about working to the point where taking a breath was a lot of work. What was with that blue cube that made us feel like this, that showed Clair and I the universe? No. Both universes. This one and ours.

Whoa. What is this? I was suspended in some sort of bed with a lid almost like an instant-tan machine, except my head was left exposed. I could see some sort of blue glow coming from within, and a monitor beeping. Was that my heartbeat it was tracking?

"I've got to tell you, kid, you can sure take a beating." A voice said, making me look over with strained effort. Sitting at the foot of my bed was a guy with short blonde hair dressed in a black outfit with purple lining racing across his body. One of his sleeves was gone exposing an arm with a few scars collected on it. He watched me behind a pair of purple sunglasses. "You and your girlfriend. You two are something."

"Cousin, not girlfriend." Mortem corrected as he walked in. "About time you woke up."

"What? Where are we?" I asked as I tried to get up.

"Relax kid. That chamber will patch you up good as new before long." The man said. "You put quite a strain on yourselves holding the Tesseract."

"Where is it?" I asked, worried about what had become of it.

"Locked away. Rest of the team is debating on what to do with it. Stark says we need it to find the Hulk, but Cap insists that we need to get rid of it. I'm inclined to agree with Stars-n-Stripes because of what that thing did three years ago."

"What happened three years ago?" Clair asked as she regained consciousness. "Where are we?"

Rolling his eyes, the dark warrior answered, "Avengers Tower. Their base of operations. A skyscraper in a place called New York City."

"Used to be Stark Tower, as if Stark didn't have a big enough ego." The man looked as if he was rolling his eyes under his shades. "Became our base after our team assembled for the first time on the Day Unlike Any Other, as Daily Bugle Communications called it. The people are actually trying to get it made into a holiday, Avengers Day."

I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Wow. The people just worship you, don't they?"

"They see us as Earth's Mightiest Heroes." Getting up, the man added, "You two should be good in another hour. Once you're done Friday will show you to your rooms. How's dinner coming?"

A feminine mechanical voice answered, "Dinner will be ready within one hour, twelve minutes." So this place has advanced A.I. too. Good to know. "Wait. What do we call you?"  
"Yeah, I don't feel like giving away my real name yet, but for now you can call me Hawkeye."

* * *

MORTEM'S POV

I hated waiting around while these Avengers decided what to do with that cosmic cube. It was a potential way home, but after seeing how quickly it overwhelmed both Jason and his cousin I wasn't in a hurry to touch it. The amount of power that block had was crazy, and I knew enough to know that it wasn't something I could control.

Still, I had to admit this Stark guy had some expensive tastes. The hallways were filled with lots of paintings and vases on pedestals. Still, an entire tower for a team of six, or five now as they were down one member. Just seemed like overkill to me. Whatever. I found the Avengers seated in a room with a bar on one side while they were all sitting on couches around some coffee table like a bunch of friends preparing for a game night.

"Okay, so recap of what's happened." The one called Stark, who I assume was Iron Man because of the glowing circle in the middle of his chest, began the meeting. "We found H.Y.D.R.A. on a secret island pulling monsters from one of Thor's Nine Realms-."  
"Nay." The man with the hammer corrected. "They were not of the Nine Realms."

"Is the Realm of Darkness one of the Nine Realms?" I had a feeling it wasn't, but better safe than sorry.

Shaking his head, Thor answered, "Nay. I've been to Svartalfheim before, and I've never seen those creatures there."

"So there could be a tenth realm?" A woman with short curly red hair asked.

"Odin would've said so, and he has said nothing. I will question him when I return to Asgard."

Okay, I was getting impatient. "You sounded concerned when I said the Red Skull was working with that oversized head, saying it sounded like these Masters. Who are they and why is it shocking that those two were working together?"

"Friday, pull up our records of the Masters." Stark ordered the building's A.I. With a confirmation holographic images appeared of several different individuals. One resembled a person in some sort of red battle armor with a crimson hood and cape. Another was a man who appeared to be made of metal. Then… whoa. Was that guy made out of water? And what was the pterosaur man? And who was that guy with the orange armor? "The Masters were a team of villains who have made trouble in the past. Crimson Cowl," he pointed to the red one, "Absorbing Man," He pointed to the guy made of metal, "Hydro-Man," kind of on the nose with the water guy, "Sauron," still didn't get the pterosaur guy, "and the Melter." So that was the guy in the orange armor. "They teamed up to try and take us down, but they failed."

"Yet you say that Red Skull was working with M.O.D.O.K." The woman said. "That doesn't make sense because A.I.M. and H.Y.D.R.A. hate each other."

"Hated. Skull is dead, and so is H.Y.D.R.A." I reminded her. "Speaking of which, who exactly were those ingrates anyways? What was their deal?" I figured learning more about the ones who brought us here might help me figure out how to get us out.

One man with blonde hair looked at me. "H.Y.D.R.A. was a Nazi science devision looking to make weapons for Hitler during the second World War. However, under the direction of Johann von Schmidt they broke away and became their own threat."

"Okay, who is Schmidt?"

"You killed him. Eventually Schmidt became the man known as the Red Skull." Looking down, the man added, "It's still hard to believe that after seventy years H.Y.D.R.A. has finally been taken down."

"Seventy years?" He did not look that old. "So how did they survive?"

"After the war ended, they infiltrated the Secret Scientific Reserve, which eventually became the Strategic Homeland Intervention and Enforcement Logistics Division." The woman explained, "A couple of years ago they emerged again and tried to resume their goals of world domination, but we were able to stop them."

There was so much that made no sense to me. "So how did the Tesseract play into all this? How did Red Skull get his hands on it?"

"Well, he first found it during the war and used it to make advanced weapons out of science fiction." The blonde man answered. "It fell into the ocean when I was making what I thought was my last stand against the Skull, and I thought he perished with it. Now begs the question how did he survive all these years?"

"We'll figure that out." Stark insisted. "Right now we need to use the Tesseract to find Banner and bring him home."

Now blondie turned to him. "Using that thing is a bad idea. You saw how Loki used it to bring an alien army to New York."

"And now Skull used it to bring an army of demons here under our noses, and coincidently the sleeping beauties in the medical wing used it to send them back. We can use it to find Banner and then get rid of it."

"Don't forget you have to send us back to where we came from as well," I reminded them. "Normally, I'd just use my dark portals to get us out, but they don't seem to be working in this universe."

Now the guy with the strange shave looked at me. "Dark portals? Does that have something to do with your freaky Death Eater act back on H.Y.D.R.A. Island?"

"Duh."

"You mind coming with me?"

* * *

"Why did you bring me to this place?" The room we were now in was just four walls and a floor. NOthing special to it. "This looks like a place to store crazy people."

"It's where we train." The woman said. "Doesn't look like much, but don't let your guard down."

Before I could ask her why, the floor then jerked and began to shift as a crack appeared. From that came some sort of pillar that seemed kind of pointless, but then panels began to move out from the walls, sliding across the room in an alternating pattern. "Why are you doing this?"

"If we want to know why your hocus pocus doesn't work, we need to study it. So, running an obstacle course should give us that. Don't worry. It's on the basic settings-."

"Turn it up."

That actually made him do a double take. "Excuse me?"

"Turn it up. Highest settings. If I'm going to run this little lab experiment, I'm doing it my way. And my way is to push myself to my limits."

With a shrug, Stark said, "Friday, turn up the settings. Extreme danger."

I like the sound of that. "Good. Now let's see how your little exercise chamber handles a Keyblade bearer."

With a laugh, Thor said, "You have a warrior's spirit. I look forward to see what you do to Stark's playroom. I found it as enjoyable as the training fields of Asgard."

As I readied myself to start the obstacle course, the A.I. spoke up. "To complete the challenge, you must make your way to the top of the pillar, and hit the switch. Then and only then will the room deactivate."

"Seems simple enough." I said right as a huge buzzsaw blade cut through the floor almost taking my leg off. Whoa, there was another one right behind me. I then found myself dodging a bunch of energy bullets, and had to use my Keyblade to deflect a few flying boomerang-like blades. Well these guys definitely weren't messing around. Can't say I didn't ask for it.

As I approached the pillar, I had to leap back to avoid falling into… a pit of acid? Seriously? Oh, come on. The buzzsaws were getting annoying. With a growl I leapt up and fired Dark Fireballs at them, destroying them and giving myself some space to breathe. I caught sight of a few drones flying toward me and started firing at me. I leapt us before transforming my Keyblade into it Dark Bazooka form and started firing back.

As each destroyed drone fell to the floor, I heard a rumbling coming from both sides. What? Walls with huge spikes? Why did that feel like a cliche? Rushing forward I had to leap to avoid becoming a shishkabob. After avoiding a couple more floor saws, I saw a couple of robotic claws attached to wires come at me. One managed to grab my weapon holding arm, while the other grabbed my face and it felt as though it was trying to crush it. I struggled for a bit as I tried to pry off the one on my face with my free hand.

Then I released my darkness before tearing the claw off and pulling my arm free. Using both limbs I tore the machine holding my face to pieces before descending to the floor- whoa! What's with these platforms? It just shot up from the floor and sent me flying. With a growl I transformed my Keyblade into its scythe form and fired an electric blast at the machinery. As the floor closed up to cover the damage, I turned to see what was next.

From the walls came rows of machine guns that all opened fire upon me. I slammed my palm on the floor as I surrounded myself in a barrier. As the bullets bounced off me, I found myself absorbing the impacts as if building up for a new attack. The smile that crept onto my face indicated what I was thinking. Let's see what this move can do.

Focusing on the weapons, I unleashed the buildup. From my barrier came a series of spears made from both my barrier and my darkness that pierced each automatic gun until the only sounds were the sputtering of electricity and the crashing of ruined weapons against the floor. As I prepared myself to climb up the pillar I thought of potential names I could call my new attack before settling on one I liked. Chaotic Reflection! I couldn't wait to see the look on Jason's face when I used it on him.

Now to the pillar. Rushing across the opening and closing floor panels, and the sliding walls, I finally found myself at the base of my goal. Now to- What the hell? I was just shot back by a bunch of lasers that came from the pillar. Flamethrowers too? No. I was not going to let this stop me when I was so close to my objective. I then transformed my weapon into its claymore form, Chaosbringer, and summoned several energy blades. Pointing my claymore at the pillar, the energy blades darted to some of the flamethrowers and laser blasters, shutting them down.

Now I had a clear path to the top. As I felt an ability called Flowmotion activate inside me I rushed up the side of the pillar, focusing on the top. As I did, more drones appeared to fire at me but I simply leapt off and sliced through them one by one. As they all fell to my blade's power I then pushed off from the remains of the last drone and finally made it to the top of the pillar where I found the big red button. Slamming my fist down on it, I watched as all the traps powered down and the pillar sank back into the floor. My weapon then reverted to its Keyblade form.

"Nice moves, kid." The one called Hawkeye said as he clapped his hands. "I give that a solid nine on the destruction, but a five on the finesse."

"The courage of mortals never ceases to amaze me." Thor grinned as he approached. "Verily, I say the halls of Midgard should sing of thy bravery."

Rolling my eyes, I asked about the thing I wanted. "Were you able to get what you needed?"

"Yes." As he looked on a holographic screen, Stark gave me his analysis. "After scanning your powers from your little destructive derby, which was hardcore. Not going to lie about that. Anyway, the energy I picked up from your weapon and abilities have a similar feel to what Thor's hammer gives up, and yet it's something different altogether."

"What does that mean?"

"Ever try to get a blu-ray to play on a DVD player? Best I can come up with is that you're basically a different model trying to work in a system you weren't designed for. Some things work but not all of them, like those fireballs but not your portals. You want full access, you need to get back to where you belong." I suppose that makes sense. Different universe, different atmosphere, different natural or spiritual laws, and who knows what else?

"Which he needs the Tesseract to do unless Odin's got some secret door he's kept hidden." The woman added.

"Not just me and Leroy." I reminded them. "Jason and Clair come with me. I won't be that cruel to them as to leave them stranded in a universe they don't belong in. Besides, don't wish to leave our score unsettled."

* * *

 **I will admit, Mortem trashing the Avengers training room wasn't planned out, but something Yami wrote gave me the idea and I decided to go with it so Tony could analyze his powers. Hopefully next time things will move along a lot quicker.**

 **I will say I don't know when the next chapter will come. I'm working two jobs and I start driving school next week, so it may be awhile before the next chapter is ready.**


	36. Masters of pain

**This was a beast to write. Sorry it's not as long as some of the other chapters, but I hope you will enjoy.**

 **I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and/or Marvel.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Thanks again for looking over the Mortem interactions.**

 **Braxton, Johri, Gracie, and Eini belong to Flautist4ever. Thanks for writing out what happens to them on Harthyn.**

 **Jason, Clair, Anton Yeller, and Santos belong to me.**

* * *

Chapter 36: Masters of pain

Avengers Tower, New York City, New York, Earth KHD1818…

Saarin 5, 91 KA…

JASON'S POV

Wow. That chamber thing really worked. I felt good as new after a few hours of resting in that thing. It was like I was just manufactured from a factory, and ready to take on the worlds.

As soon as we figure out how to get back at least.

"Well, my my." Jiminy said from my shoulder. "These things are incredible."  
"They sure are." I said as I looked at him. "Thanks again for disabling the collars while the Skull was monologuing."

"It wasn't just me. There was another fellow there working on getting them off. He said he'll be by later to check up on you."

I couldn't help but wonder who that was. Who else could've been helping my conscience with the collars? "So what do you think of these guys? Do you think we can trust them?"

"Well, they seem to be trustworthy to me. They've helped so far."  
Guess we'll just have to wait and see how things play out. While Clair and I got out of the regeneration chamber things, we found someone waiting for us at the door. "Good. You seem to be healed." Stark said as he approached us. "Friday told me you were fully healed. I've got to say, you two were incredibly brave or really stupid to hold the Tesseract the way you did."

"Things just happened." I said. "I did what I thought I had to."

"Yeah, well, your friend is waiting downstairs, and he's giving me a look like I'm going to find my head on a pike if things don't hurry up."

"That's Mortem for you."

As we prepared to leave, the door suddenly slammed shut in front of us. Turning to the bearded guy seemed perplexed by that. "Friday, open the door." When he got no response, he said again, "Friday, open the doors. This isn't funny."

"You're right, Stark, This isn't funny." A voice spoke up, and it definitely was not an A.I. This sounded like a man, and from the wide eyes our host got it must've been someone he knew. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. Now let's watch and see if you can survive your own headquarters' security."

Before anyone could say anything a pair of guns came out from the ceiling and pointed right at us! "Worbazz!" I swore as we ducked behind the regeneration chambers for protection. THe tops were immediately blown off, but the bases seemed to be holding. "Stark, do you have another way out of here?"

"Of course I do." Tapping his watch, he said, "Mark 44 activate."

Was that one of his suits? As we hunkered down something then came through the floor and merged itself with the guy, answering my question. As soon as the red and gold armor was finished attaching itself to him Iron Man stood up and blasted the guns with blasts from his hands. Once the weapons were disabled, he fired a concentrated blast at the door, destroying it and giving us a way out.

As we hurried through the halls, I decided to get some answers. "Who was that guy, and how did he hack your security? Also why isn't your armor affected?"

"It sounds like Fixer. He's a villain I faced before. Capable of building dangerous tech and can hack anything. Also my armor houses a different computer. No hacking allowed. Now we need to find- shit!" We had to stop because in front of us the walls broke apart as two figures began duking it out.

"Moonstone. Why are ye attacking the Avengers? Captain Marvel fell in battle against the X-Men." Thor asked as he swung his hammer to attack a blonde woman in a white outfit with some sort of brownish tan triangle over her chest.

As she leaned back to avoid getting smashed by the hammer she responded. "Do you think that she was my only reason for hating your team?" With that she fired some laser beams from her hands that sent Thor flying backwards, and she quickly flew after him.

As the sound of punches being exchanged filled our ears we moved around the debris and were about to continue when Iron Man stopped us. "Wait. If we continue Fixer will activate security and continue to shoot at us. We need to get to the main computer system and shut it down. Then we can move around the tower safely." With that he flew over to a pair of elevators and pushed the doors open, exposing an empty shaft.

Before we could descend we heard a crash behind us. "About time you two recovered." Mortem growled at us as he pulled himself out of the wall. "Mind giving us a hand with these freaks?"

"What's the matter? Don't like seeing your toys used against you?" Asked a man who was made out of the same metal as the _Vengeful Chaos_ Keyblade, with hands shaped like hammers. "I don't know what metal that giant key of yours was made out of, but I'm glad I absorbed it. I feel so much stronger than before. Now everyone will fear the Absorbing Man."

Before he could strike a huge slab of concrete was thrown at him, knocking him down the hall into the pile of debris we left behind. Turning we saw Leroy dusting off his hands with a smug look on his face. "Absorb that."

"Thanks Leroy." Clair thanked him as I turned to follow Iron Man down the shaft. I could hear my cousin explaining to our foe/uneasy ally/rival the situation, but I didn't really focus as I wanted to catch up with Iron Man. After climbing several floors down, I found another pair of doors that had been blasted off and leapt through the opening to try and catch up with the- Gri's beak! Something just wrapped itself around me and threw me against the wall.

As I groaned from the impact, I looked up to see a woman dressed in a red outfit underneath a crimson cloak and cape staring at me, though I couldn't see her face because of the red mask she wore. Still her shape was undeniably feminine so that's how I knew her gender. "So the Avengers have taken to recruiting child soldiers? And they say Tony Stark is a humanitarian?"

"More humane than you, Crimson Cowl." A voice said, causing her to turn around to receive some sort of attack that made her writhe in pain. As she hunched over I saw the woman with red hair holding her arm out with her fist clenched. Something then shot out of one of her bracers but the cape folded around Crimson Cowl until she vanished from sight. She then reappeared behind the Avenger and shot the corners of her cape at her.

I was surprised to see cuts where the cape hit her. Was she able to fold her cape to act like an appendage or like weapons? It appeared so. "Your time with the Avengers has made you soft, Romanoff. Your Russian superiors would be disappointed to see the infamous Black Widow is no longer the danger she once was."

"Don't underestimate me. Remember, the black widow still has a deadly bite." With that she leapt onto the cloaked villain, wrapping her legs around her opponent's neck and zapping her some more with those bracers of hers. "Go!"

Following her instructions we hurried on down the hall past rubble and broken equipment to a room that had been broken into. Peering inside I saw broken containers that had all sorts of stuff in it. I found myself stepping over blasters, discarded armor pieces, even what looked like vialls of organic material. "Did we just step into some sort of trophy room?" Clair asked.

Shaking my head, I gave my guess. "No. It looks more like some sort of storage facility. I think they were prepping this stuff to go out somewhere, but didn't get the chance to ship it."

"I think Jason's right." Mortem looked over something on one of the containers. "There are addresses on here, for the Department of Damage Control. Whatever that is."

"Well we should find Tony and see if he was able to- look out!" I had to leap to the side as a blast was fired at us. Peeking around the corner, I saw a bald man with a skin tone similar to Braxton standing there. He was dressed in red and black armor and had a red eyepiece over his left eye.

"Leave now and you may yet live." The man said in a voice I recognized.

Equipping the keychain Leon gave me, I ran from my hiding place and charged at my opponent, deflecting shots as I did. "What are you doing here, Fixer? I thought you were at Tony's computer."

As he dodged a swipe from my Keyblade, he gave an answer. "Iron Man is chasing a false lead. The only thing in his computer is a nanovirus I created. It's currently infecting all of the systems in this tower. By the time he gets done clearing them out the Masters will have what we came for and be long gone."

"You guys are the Masters?" Mortem raised an eyebrow at that. "I don't recognize you from the roster I was shown. Where's the pterodactyl guy? And the waterboy?"

"Let's just say our new leader felt a change in roster was necessary." With that he fired his gun again, but instead of a single blast twenty miniature ones came from his weapon. Some I managed to deflect by the others went straight for Mortem and Clair! Before the blasts could hit Mortem Leroy leapt in front of them and took the hit while my cousin blocked the ones heading for her with a barrier spell.

The dark warrior checked on the red monsters who had been blasted through another container. "Leroy!"  
"I'm okay. Still fluffy." He said from inside, but that did not seem to alleviate Mortem.

Turning to the mechanical villain he said, "That was a mistake, Fixer. One you will regret." With that he changed _Vengeful Chaos_ into its scythe mode and charged towards the villain. As he leapt up to bring the weapon down upon Fixer a red bubble appeared around the cyborg-looking foe causing the dark warrior's attack to bounce off.

Swinging the _Lionheart_ Keyblade, my attack also bounced off his shield causing me to grit my teeth. With a smirk Fixer added some components to his blaster before firing it at me. I instantly felt gravity turn off as I was thrown against the ceiling and against the crates. Wait a minute. I couldn't see his shield anymore. "Mortem! Clair! Now!"

"Don't give me orders! **Chaos Wave**!" As the dark warrior launched the wave of darkness at our opponent, the shield went back up to protect Fixer, but it freed me from the anti-gravity thing. As I crashed against the floor, I noticed him trying to add more components to his armor. Was he seriously upgrading in the middle of a fight?

It was then my Keyblade changed form. Instead of a Keyblade it now resembled Leon's gunblade, and I could feel certain abilities switching on within it. "Your weapons are fascinating. I'm going to enjoy studying them when I pry them away from your corpses." As Fixer raised his blaster at me, a pair of arrows then stuck themselves to it.

"Tick, tick, boom." Hawkeye called out from where he was as we heard the arrows beep a couple of times before they exploded in Fixer's face. Before he could recover I went rushing in as I called out an attack from my weapon.

" **Fated Circle**!" As my weapon began to glow, I spun it in a circle causing a glowing halo to appear around me. With a gesture from me it spread out, hitting Fixer dead center and tearing off chunks of his armor. Whoa. I ended up falling to my knees after that attack, and I felt so tired. Was that a move that took a toll on its user? It must be.

Before Fixer could say or do anything he was hit in the back by a beam of darkness. As he crashed into one of the trailers I saw the dark warrior had changed his weapon into its bazooka mode and smoke was coming out of it from his last attack. "Not bad." He told me. "You've really come a long way since we first met in Radiant Garden."

"Come a long way?" A new voice asked. "How can humanity make any progress with all their flaws and imperfections?" Something about that voice creeped me out. It didn't sound human. More like a machine trying to be human. "Thousands of years and the human race is no different. All you do is delude yourselves into believing you can change, become better when the truth is you will never correct your flaws."

I noticed Hawkeye reaching for his ear. "Avengers, assemble. We have a situation in the holding-." That was when a massive hand reached out and grabbed him. Clair gasped upon seeing a giant man dressed in an orange outfit with brownish-red markings and a strange-looking helmet hold the Avenger as to keep him from warning the rest of the team.

"So you are the ones responsible for the death of the Red Skull? The next generation really does replace the old." As the trailers were thrown out of the way by some sort of power we got a good look at the speaker. A robot with red eyes and similar markings across its body? I noticed it also sported a pair of pincers around its mouth that were somehow goofy and intimidating at the same time. "Masters, regroup."

As Fixer pulled himself out of the broken trailer, something unfurled in the air next to him, and Crimson Cowl reappeared with Absorbing Man. Not long after, Moonstone crashed through the ceiling and rejoined her teammates, while the huge guy kept a hold of Hawkeye. "Why are we wasting our time? Let's just kill them and get it over with." The flying lady said.

"No. Not our mission. Kill them and they just become martyrs especially once word spreads that they ended the Red Skull and H.Y.D.R.A." The robot told them. "I want them to fall under the weight of their failure."

That was when the wall behind us broke and Thor stepped through with the remaining Avengers. However, when they saw who else was there, every one of them paled like they saw a ghost. "Odin's beard!" Thor swore as he laid eyes on the Masters, or should I say their leader. "What trickery is this? You were destroyed."

"Who is this guy?" Clair asked while Leroy rejoined us.

"You didn't tell them about me, father?" Ultron looked at Iron Man. "If I were made of flesh, I'd be hurt."

"Soon you'll be scrap again, Ultron." With that, Iron Man fired a blast from the circle in his chest as if it were some sort of ultimate attack. However, the flying woman flew in front of the robot and took the blast head on.

She smirked as she was surrounded by a golden aura. "Thanks for the juice, Stark." She then fired some sort of energy lasers from her hands at us only for the one with the shield to leap up and block her attack. The momentum from her assault sent him flying backwards into a trailer, but he quickly got back up.

"Moonstone." Ultron said. "Enough. We have what we came for."

"What could you possibly have that would be worth more than destroying us?" Iron Man asked as he prepared for another attack.

Holding up his hand, Ultron showed he had something all of us needed. "The means of your destruction."

"Give that back!" Mortem then leapt at the metallic monster only for the robot to open his jaws wide. THat was when a red beam fired from his mouth, blasting Mortem and sending him flying backwards.

As its jaws closed, the robot looked at the Avengers. "Like it? Let's just say I evolved since our encounter in Sokovia. You may have stopped my meteor there, but with the Tesseract you won't be able to prevent me from carrying out my mission."

"And what is your mission?" I frowned at it.

"Peace in our time."

For some reason that just made me laugh. "Oh, you're a funny robot. You claim to be moving towards peace, but your actions say otherwise."

"I fail to see the humor in that." With that Ultron blasted me with some sort of blast from his hand that reminded me of what Iron Man did with his hands. As I crashed into a trailer pain erupted through my body while I tried to get back out. It was then the huge guy, Goliath, cried out in pain as he held his wrist while Hawkeye leapt out of his hand, aiming an arrow at the Tesseract.

"Wormhole-creating cubes are strictly for ages ten-thousand and up." He said as he fired the arrow which turned into a claw that grabbed the cube. However before he could pull it away the robot sliced the tether with his free hand while the archer landed on another trailer. That was when Moonstone flew up and shot some of her attacks at him, forcing the Avenger to fall back to his team.

"Enough!" Mortem roared as he reappeared. "Give me that cube!" With that he blasted his way over to Ultron and the Masters using the darkness as a means of thrust. However, the robot was able to grab his face and prevent him from getting there.

"I'd love to stay and kick your ass as humans say, but we're on a bit of a deadline, so your obituary will have to be written another day." With that the dark warrior was tossed aside while a cyan colored mist appeared around the Masters, and like that they were gone.

* * *

We were all in a foul mood after our defeat at the hands of the Masters, but especially Mortem. He was pacing back and forth, sending death glares at anyone who dared to make eye contact with him. While Tony worked on his computer, he growled, "How much longer, Stark?"

"You can't rush genius." The armored Avenger told him. "Banner and I designed this algorithm to trace the gamma radiation the Tesseract gives off, but Fixer went and messed it up with his little virus trick. All I can do right now is clear it out and get it back to working order."

"Tony, gamma radiation is Banner's field. You don't know it like he does." Romanoff said as she adjusted her bracers. "Without him…."

"We can still find it. Don't forget I'm the smartest guy on Earth."

"One of the smartest. Reed Richards still outclasses you in the egghead department." Hawkeye deadpanned while he worked on some of his trick arrows.

Before things got too out of hand I decided to get some answers. "There's something that's really been bugging me. How does Ultron know you? All of you seemed pretty shocked to see that thing, and I couldn't help but notice some of his attacks seemed similar to how Iron Man fights."

"That would be because Stark made that metal monster." Thor answered.

A silence fell over the three of us before the dark warrior narrowed his eyes. Marching over to the billionaire he grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him up. " _YOU_ created Ultron?!"

"Look Anakin. I wasn't trying to create a murder weapon. Ultron was supposed to be a shield around the planet, a way to keep people safe from all threats. I had no idea he was going to go crazy and think humanity was the problem. We beat him before, we can do it again. This time it'll be for good."

"Maybe I should unplug you and see how things get better."  
"Mortem." I hurried over to him. "Calm down. The Masters are the threat, not Stark. Right now he's the only one who can find the Tesseract, and if you kill him then we'll have no chance of getting back to our universe. Do you really want to stay here forever and lose all hope of ever fulfilling your mission?"

I was surprised when Captain America joined me. "Jason's right. The priority right now is locating the Tesseract. We find it, we find the Masters. Save your anger for them, not Tony."

For several intense moments the dark warrior stared at us like he was going to attack us. Finally, he set the billionaire down and turned away. "You two owe me for this."

"Got it." Leroy spoke up as he finished working on the computer. "Found the energy signature. It's located in some city called Shibuya."

That caused Mortem to look at the screen. "Shibuya? Where's that?"

"It's in Japan." The Black Widow said as she stood up. "Anyone interested in a trip to the Orient?"

"Everyone suit up." Stark ordered. "We've got a package to pick up."

* * *

EINI'S POV

As we ended the call, I couldn't find the right words to think or say. It was go time, but… there was nowhere _to_ go.

Not for another twenty-four hours. Could we keep our secrets until then? Would it matter? Did Yeller know that we know? Was he listening to us now? Ugh. The paranoia was starting to drive me crazy.

"What do we do now?" Johri asked as we looked to Braxton.

"Head back to our quarters. Gather what we can carry, and then prepare to get off this station." He told us. "We haven't a moment to lose."

With agreeing nods we all got up and prepared to leave the room. However, out of the corner of my eye, something seemed odd about our shadows. It was like they were pulsating and… were those eyes? Oh, Gri.

The shadows came to life, surrounding us. Gracie immediately ran for the door, "Help! Somebody! Let us out of here!"

The door opened, revealing Santos. He leaned on the doorway with his feet blocking the other end. "Where do you think you're going?"

"You have to let us out!" Gracie pleaded, "Before those things attack!"

"We're still part of this project, remember?" Johri added, doing her best to loom over the shorter boy.

"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that. You see, Yeller has decided you four are unfit for his little program." Santos smirked at us. "So you can consider yourselves expelled."

At that the shadows seemed to swirl around us, and glowing yellow eyes formed from them. Gri's beak! What in the world were these things? Unless… they're not from our world! Were these…?  
"I'll let the Heartless deal with you four. I've got a future lover to find."  
"Good luck with that- You're gonna need it!" I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"Luck's got nothing to do with it," Santos said as the shadows converged to form an oval behind him. Before we could grab him he stepped into it and the shadows dispersed like a door had closed.

"We have to get out of here." I said, but right as I turned around- whoa! That was the freakiest thing I had ever seen! It was human shaped, but had impossibly thin arms and big poofy pink pants that matched the veil it was wearing. The fashion sense was the most atrocious thing ever to grace my eyesight. I made a note to steal its look when I had the chance.

As one of those things leapt up to attack Johri, her body seemed to take on an ethereal glow. Next thing we knew she fired an attack made of light at the monster and it was destroyed.

Particles of light danced in the air around her as she advanced to the mass of demons, and whenever one leapt at her a particle would pierce it to the core. "Come on!" She gestured for us to follow, and it was then that I noticed the veins in her hands were glowing and pulsating in a rainbow of hues.

That was when I noticed a familiar feeling coming over me- the same one that happened when Fushicho protected us. Was… was this somehow her doing? It did make sense, given that- whoa! One of those things just tried to take my head off! Right, escape first. Debate later.

As we rushed through the halls of the station, the shadows all around seemed to be coming to life as more of those things blocked our way. Just how many were there?  
Johri kept turning and blasting them, and the glowing light kept spreading through her body. I had to wonder whether she could keep this up. I could see her whole body heaving with each breath. "Johri, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. We just need to get out of here."

"Don't kill yourself to do it."

Gri's Beak! Johri's eyes were glowing! "Her body will hold until you get to safety." A comforting voice replied, "But hurry nonetheless. The circumstances at hand have forced me to grant her powers before her time. Now _go._ "

Of course, that was easier said than done. Those things were popping up so fast our way out was being blocked. Why didn't I have any special ability or weapon to get rid of these things? That would be incredibly useful right now.

I tried to swing at one, only for my weak punch to bounce off.

As Johri began to cough violently, Gracie moved to check on her. Johri let out a painful roar and sent out a blast that cleared the hallway in front of us. As she took a few steps she wobbled like she was about to collapse from the effort.

Gracie reached up and held Johri up as best she could. "Whatever this is, turn it off!" The shorter girl buckled a little under Johri's weight as she began to collapse, "You have to stop before it kills you!"

Johri flickered and the light coming from her slowly died down as she caught her breath. The four of us pressed closer together while the army of monsters regrouped and surrounded us.

"How are we gonna get outta this one?" I cried.

"We'll find a way," Braxton told us, looking around wildly, "All of us."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," A familiar voice rose above the din. Ahead of us, the army of monsters parted, and Professor Yeller stepped forward, "After all, you're surrounded, outnumbered, overpowered, and you don't even know whose side you're really on."

Braxton stepped in front of us, "We're not on _your_ side, Madsane!"

The professor tilted his head up, eyeing the younger man, "Well, then I'm afraid, you're truly on the Downtrod's side."

Braxton narrowed his eyes, "The Downtrod have nothing to do with us."

"Oh?" The professor brushed past Braxton and yanked Gracie in front of us by the arm, "You mean to tell me you weren't aware of _this_?" He pulled on Gracie's shirt and she _glitched._

"That doesn't mean-"

"Or did you not put two-and-two together?" The old scientist taunted, shoving Gracie to the ground and pulling something out of her pocket, "That someone in charge of data and communications would be sending information to the Downtrod? That everything she ever told you was just a little too _convenient?_ " He pressed a button.

"Agent 1-3-7?" A voice came from the device, "What's happening? Your next transmission isn't due for another 24 hours."

Braxton stared from the device, then down at Gracie.

She had curled up on her knees and wouldn't meet his eyes. I couldn't believe it. Gracie, a spy?

I looked at Braxton. I think he would have taken it better if he'd just learned I was his wardrobe designer for the rest of eternity.

"You…" His voice shook with pure venom, "You've been using us the whole time, haven't you? Haven't you?!" You've been one of _them_ this whole time?"

She was silent.

"You _pretended_ to be our friend," His tone grew more and more accusing with every word, " _Manipulated_ me into keeping your secrets?" He barely seemed to be able to restrain himself, " _Smiled_ at my _family_ , knowing it's _your people's fault_ we lost our brothers!"

"Can we argue this later?" I asked. "Bad guy in front of us, demons surrounding us? Did that revelation erase all common sense?"

"Bad guy?" Yeller put his hand over his mouth in mock offense, "Demons? Oh, no no no, Eini. You see, these are the means by which I will eradicate the Kaiju and rescue the best of Harthyn from destruction! We'll usher in a new era of peace and stability, and the unstable, useless, and dangerous people who kept this era from coming sooner will be left in the ashes where they belong." He tapped 'Gracie' with his foot, "I had so hoped you would be a part of it, but it looks like your Morugan friend here led you all astray." He shrugged, "Oh well. I cull lab animals all the time."

For the first time in my life, my whole body went cold. The monsters surrounding us closed in, and Johri's powers were fading by the second. 'Gracie' or whoever she was still hadn't gotten up. I shrank closer to my friends and 'Gracie', unable to do anything else.

* * *

JOHRI'S POV

Suddenly, the station shook and the alarm started blaring. Yeller stumbled, "What's going on?"

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" George's voice came over the intercom.

BANG!

The air flowed out of the station as the Heartless were sucked into space. Before I could register our demise, a strong pair of hands pulled me into an airlock. I looked around and realized we were in a shuttle- manned by some people I knew had to be Gracie's teammates. I looked for my friends and saw Braxton lying on the ground with Gracie standing over him. Gracie was examining a wound on his head.

"Brax!" I scooted over to where he was, trying to ignore the fact that my veins were still glowing slightly, "Are you okay?"

"He took a chunk of rubble to the head," Gracie pointed to the cut, which looked like he'd been whacked with a chunk of Yeller's ultra-heavy conduit. Which was all inside the Station's walls. Or was supposed to be. One of the agents handed Gracie a first-aid kit, and she cleaned and bandaged the wound, "He'll live, but he won't be in a good mood when he wakes up."

"You think?" I asked flatly, "I wonder why."

She gave me a deadpan look, "Hey, you guys would have been accessories to Madsane's plans if I hadn't hacked his personal files." Her face softened as she looked at him, "Can't blame him for being upset about it though…"

I just nodded, "So what are you going to do with us?"

"You're under our protection," The pilot answered frankly, "We're on the cusp of all-out war and we can't afford to let you inform anyone on Madsane's side, even accidentally."

I stood up and hit my head on a bulkhead. Rubbing the back of my head, I protested, "What about my parents? Or Braxton's family? They're innocent in all this!"

"We're doing what we can." The pilot answered simply.

"Please just sit down and stay out of the way," Another agent instructed.  
So I did.

We landed behind a holoshield and the agents onboard blindfolded us before leading us through the base to a place where we could move somewhat freely. Except for Braxton, who was wheeled in on an old gurney and taken to a medical bay.

* * *

 **And that's all for now.**

 **Originally I was going to have Clair try to take the Tesseract, and inadvertently bring Braxton and co. to Earth KHD1818, but due to an inability to figure out how I scrapped it.**

 **The new roster for the Masters was suggested by TheGoodandTheBadXBoy. I may have to go back and rewrite this chapter, but for now I'll leave it as is. I'm just not sure if I did a good job with the Masters because, and I'm sorry to say this, I've only read a few comics and don't know these characters. Trying to change that though.**

 **As for the comment regarding Captain Marvel, in this universe the X-Men vs. Avengers event happened, but not like in the comics. It was during this scuffle that Rogue absorbed Captain Marvel's powers, but instead of being put in a coma she was weakened to the point where a stray blast from someone (still unknown who) struck her and ended her life. Long story short, the Carol Danvers of this universe is dead.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter will not be so difficult to write.**


	37. Showdown in Shibuya

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, and/or Marvel.**

 **Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Special thanks for your help.**

 **And special thanks to TheGoodandtheBadXBOY and Flautist4ever for looking over this.**

* * *

Chapter 37: Showdown in Shibuya

Shibuya, Japan, Earth, KHD1818…

Saarin 5, 91 KA…

MORTEM'S POV

I had to admit this city was impressive. Though the buildings weren't as tall as New York there were far more lights here. Several screens advertized singers with names like Dazzler and Luna Snow.

As I took in the sights, a strange feeling came over me. I felt as though I had been to a city similar to this one before. And something told me it was for an extended period of time as well. But I can't for the life of me remember. Ugh! Why in Chaos's name does this amnesia have to be so frustrating?

Chaos? Why did I think that? Was Chaos someone I knew in my past? That had to be right because I could feel a strong connection to it. Cosmos, this was confusing… And there I go again. What is wrong with me? That's it, I had to get the Tesseract so I could go back to the other universe and continue my quest to get the hearts.

"Tony, we've got a massive energy reading on top of the skyscraper at three o'clock." Black Widow said as she pointed. "It's got to be where they have the Tesseract."

"If Ultron thinks he's going to recreate the Battle of New York, he's got faulty programming." The armored Avenger said as he prepared to step out of the quinjet. However, before he could leave something ended up ramming the jet causing several of us to hit the side. The roof was then torn off and we found Moonstone glaring down at us.

"It's you who have the faulty thinking, Stark." She said as she prepared to blast us with her laser hands. With a growl, I summoned all the dark power I could muster and blasted her with it. Smirking in satisfaction at seeing the villain get blown back, my work was undone as we heard an explosion from outside and an alarm went off on the inside.

"She took out one of the engines. I have to land." Our pilot said as she tried to maneuver the jet to an open roof space. However, something then stopped us from falling and from the window of the jet we all saw something huge looking in through the window.

"Fee-fi-fo-fum, I caught the Avengers sneaking around." Goliath said as he began to tip the jet over to force us out from the exit. Everyone grabbed hold of something as the enormous villain began to shake our ride around, trying to force us out.

With a humph, Thor said, "I will deal with this false giant."

"Allow me." With that Leroy fell out of the jet and out of sight. Before I could protest Goliath shook the jet again and some of us almost lost our grips. Then, we felt the giant hand release the jet as it was sent flying into the air. Reacting quickly Thor flew out and stopped the jet from crashing into a building. As he set us on the ground I hurried out to see a strange sight.

Goliath was being spun around and around by Leroy who had grabbed his foot. After a few more spins the little red guy sent the giant man flying over the skyscrapers and towards what looked like the ocean in the distance. Beating his paws as if dusting them off from dirty work my partner said, "The bigger they are the farther they fly."

I couldn't help but feel proud of the little guy for that. It wasn't so bad having him around. Was this what it felt like to have a friend?

"Okay, enough with the pats on the backs. We need to get back up there." Iron Man looked up at the building we were trying to get to. "Time to clean his clock for good." With that he took off flying towards the building.

"Thanks for leaving us." Hawkeye complained to his teammate.

Looking at the rest of the team, the red and blue hero took charge. "Ultron's not the only threat. There are still three other Masters out there. Widow, you search for Fixer. He'll be holed up somewhere providing technical support. Make sure he can't hack anything in this city."  
With a nod, she took off into the city.

"Thor, you keep Moonstone busy. Try to keep her away from the people, and make sure she wasn't able to absorb that blast she took earlier. If she didn't, keep her from powering up."

With a nod, he spun his hammer and flew up into the sky.

"Hawkeye, you have Crimson Cowl. Give her a reason to keep teleporting away."

With a smile, the archer quipped, "You mean other than Tony's bad shave? Not a problem."

"Maybe I should go with Hawkeye." The mage-in-training offered. "I have a few tricks of my own that should keep Cowl on her toes."

"Kid, I appreciate the offer, but-."  
"But nothing. We've already seen how dangerous these villains are. I'm not going to be sidelined for any reason save critical condition. Without your green guy you need all the help you can get, so I'm helping and that's final."

She has grown a spine. I remember when she ran away because something was too big to face.

With a nod, Captain America said, "Okay. You can help Hawkeye."

"I didn't sign on for babysitting." The archer complained.

"Think of it more like an extra set of eyes to keep Crimson Cowl off your back."

Muttering under his breath, the two went to seek out their quarry. Turning to the shield user I said, "Don't think about sending me off to fight that absorbing freak again. Ultron is the one with the Tesseract so he's who I'm going after."

"Actually I was going to say you and Jason better go after Tony." Before I could question why he answered. "I don't like the idea of using the Tesseract, but it is your only way back to where you came from. I'm not going to be the one to keep you from getting back to your loved ones. And you." He turned to Leroy. "I need you to keep an eye out for Goliath. He comes back, give him another free flight to the ocean."

While my partner rolled off, I thought about what was said about getting back to the people I cared about. Those words brought the image of the silver-haired girl from before into my mind. Who was she? Shaking my head clear, I said, "Good, but I don't need Jason's help to trash that tin can."

"Save the trash talk for the one who's going to be scrap metal." Jason said as Cap hurried off to find Absorbing Man. Looking up the building where Iron Man flew up I rushed towards it and found myself running up the side of the building. Was this some form of flowmotion? I did notice Jason was keeping up with me.

As we made it up to the roof, we found Iron Man trying to blast Ultron, who had some sort of barrier around himself. I could see the Tesseract in some sort of machine that had a conical base with the tip pointing at the sky. "You know, if you weren't about to do something really bad with those upgrades I might actually be jealous." The armored billionaire said.

"Flattery won't help you, Avenger." The robot said. "Neither will your companions."

As the two of us summoned our Keyblades, Jason got down to interrogate the mechanical menace. "Why are you doing this, Ultron? What's your endgame with the Tesseract?"

"Let's just say there are those who want to finish what Red Skull started." Ultron answered. "I can't go into specifics. All I know is that it has everything to do with your weapons."

I looked with my Keyblade. Someone wanted the weapon? Whatever. They weren't going to get it. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. A Keyblade has to choose you, and you'll find they can be picky about who gets to use one. I don't think a machine like you would be deemed worthy."

"Ultron isn't looking for a Keyblade for himself." Jason said. "The purpose of this is to try to find someone who can use one. That must be why it took the Tesseract."

"Very clever. After I spelled it out for you." The robot said.

"Too bad you're going to be spare parts when we're done with you."

Okay, that was a good diss.

"There is a seventy-seven percent chance the search will be over once I destroy you two. A ninety-one percent chance your precious Keyblades will find new masters in the city." The robot then got into a fighting stance as the three of us prepared for what was coming. To start off Ultron fired a pair of beams from his hands which we all dodged before he flew at us. He managed to knock Jason back before my rival recovered in the air. While it did that I moved in, slicing him with my Keyblade.

Jason then joined me with his Lionheart Keyblade. He sliced at Ultron a couple of times before performing a deadly swing that did some significant damage. As he did, I went on the offensive. " **Darkness Wave**!" As the wave of dark energy flew towards the machine I smirked seeing my opponent take damage. Turning to me, he fired more of his hand blasts at me and despite my attempts to dodge one did catch my back.

" **Respulsor**!" As Iron Man fired from his hands Ultron threw up a barrier around himself that deflected his attacks.

" **Fire**!" Jason fired a spell at the barrier, but it became clear that his spells still needed work before the fireball didn't get the shield to lower. Turning to face him, Ultron then fired the beam from his mouth at us. The turn he did to face all of us caused it to hit all of us, making us cry out in pain from the impact.

Growling, I channeled my darkness into another offensive. " **Dark Firaga**!" The dark fireball managed to do some serious damage to the shield to the point where another repulsor blast was able to shatter the barrier and open up Ultron to our attacks again.

" **Ars Solum**!" Jason called out his next move where he hit Ultron with a series of blows that kind of surprised me. That was an incredibly advanced move. Where did he learn to use such a powerful attack? And how do I know this?

No matter. Ultron fired the blasts from its hands again so I had to get defensive. Throwing up a Dark Protega spell around me, I waited until I had absorbed enough to unleash my new attack on the robot. " **Chaotic Reflection**!" From my barrier and darkness came the spears that pierced Ultron's armor, doing severe damage to the robot. The look on Jason's face upon seeing that move made this all worthwhile.

Snapping out of his shock my rival went back to attacking Ultron. " **Brutal Blast**!" Leaping onto Ultron he managed to do massive amounts of damage to the menace before he was backhanded by the robot. As he was nearly thrown off the building Iron Man flew over to catch him.

Turning back to Ultron, the armored avenger activated his next attack. As slots in his shoulders opened up miniature missiles went flying out that managed to hit Ultron before the robot threw up his accursed shield again resulting in the last missiles detonating harmlessly against it.

With a growl, I decided to do something about that shield. Pointing Vengeful Chaos at the ground, I called out my attack. " **Phantom Hunters**." From the black hole that emerged came the ghostly wolves came forth and launched themselves at the shield. The repeated impacts from my wolves showed me that they were succeeding in weakening Ultron's defenses until finally the last one broke through.

As soon as the robot's barrier was gone Iron Man fired a pair of lasers from his hands at the machine, cutting into his inner circuits. As Ultron began to sputter and spark, I grinned at the opportunity to finally finish this machine off once and for all. " **Underworld Collapse**!" Slamming my Keyblade into the ground I caused the roof to shake and crack until Ultron fell through, becoming trapped up to his waist.

"Time to finish this." I said as I transformed my Keyblade into its claymore form. The topaz in the middle of my blade seemed to call to me, but I pushed it aside. With a wave of my hand several dark energy swords appeared in the sky. " **Swords of Desolation**!"

As the weapons rained down upon the robot I smiled seeing him get pierced over and over again by my attack. This was sure to end the machine for good. As my claymore reverted back to its Keyblade form, I ended up falling to my knees. That move sure took a lot out of me, but I say it was worth… what? Ultron was still alive?

"How can you survive taking a beating like that?" Jason asked as his jaw dropped.

"Because I will not let myself be defeated until I have fulfilled my imperative." The robot answered as it got back up on its feet. "I will not tire. I will not stop until I have accomplished my objectives."

I was about to move in when Iron Man stopped me. "Wait. Normally by now Ultron would've transferred his consciousness into another body, but he hasn't. It's that strange energy around you, isn't it? It's similar to what their Keyblades and Thor's hammer give off. That's what's keeping you here, isn't it?"

"Correct." I detected traces of bitterness and resentment in Ultron's voice. "The ones who brought me back made it so I cannot access the Internet, to obtain information or escape to it. I cannot connect to extensions of myself. All of me is contained in this shell."

"That explains why you needed Fixer to hack stuff for you." Jason said. "But who brought you back? The Masters?"

"No. By the ones pulling the strings of the Masters."

I was getting curious myself. "Who? Who's calling the shots?"

"The Cabal." No sooner had Ultron said that than my head exploded in pain. It wasn't like when I received a memory, but more like someone was squeezing my brain and consciousness. As I held my head in pain I noticed Jason and Iron Man were also on the ground writhing in pain from this onslaught. That was when I noticed another familiar face.

"You shouldn't have spoken, Ultron." M.O.D.O.C. said as he appeared out of the building with a bunch of men in what looked like yellow beekeeper uniforms. "No matter. The Tesseract will be back in our possession and the Avengers will be no closer to learning our true objectives."

With a snarl, I tried to force myself back to my feet, but whatever M.O.D.O.C. was doing was disabling my ability to move.

Though I found myself still can talk out of this madness. "What objectives? And who is this mutual friend with a so-called Keyblade you and that blood skinned man were talking about back in your filthy hideout where you were holding us prisoners?!"

"Our objectives are beyond classified. As for your question, it is not our privilege to reveal him." M.O.D.O.C. simply dismissed it and continued with his trick in our heads. As I laid on the ground, I felt my anger rising. We worked too hard to get the Tesseract back, and I was not going to let some oversized potato head steal my way back to the other universe. Now what? My left arm was starting to act up, and as I watched it seemed like it was starting to give off red electricity. Was this another ability I had? Why couldn't I access it? Was it because of my being here? Ugh. It was probably a good move to use.

"Mortem!" Jason called out. "Can you make another Unversed?"

Huh? He was asking me to do that? "I-I don't know. I can't access all of my abilities because this isn't our universe."

"Use my darkness. Try combining it with yours. That has to create something."

That was kind of intriguing. A part of me always wondered what his anger would look like in physical form. "IT's going to hurt."

"This hurts! If an Unversed can stop it, then go for it!"

"Don't say I didn't warn you." With that, I activated the ability I used to create Unversed, but I focused it on my rival. Wow. He has so much anger in his heart. He cried out in pain as I extracted the darkness and gave it physical form. The first thing this apparition did was rush towards the giant head, slicing the hand off the man who was unfortunate enough to be holding the Tesseract.

As the person cried out in pain at their stump, the shadow then grabbed the Tesseract. Wait. What? Now the shadows were wrapping around Jason and I? What was going on? With a cry the two of us were pulled into the swirling mass and darkness enclosed us.

* * *

CLAIR'S POV

As Crimson Cowl cried out in shock after getting hit with one of my Mine Squares the Archer hit her with one of his arrows. As it exploded the villain was coated in some sort of substance that expanded quickly until the only part visible was her head. Smiling Hawkeye quipped, "Ah, dang it. I forgot to get a container before adding the sealant to the package."

"Don't think she's going to mind. Her hands are full as it is." I tried to join in on the jokes, but only got a strange look from the Avenger. "What? Was that not funny?"

"Meet me in my office to sign up for Quipping One-O-One." Hawkeye told me as he then spoke into his comm. "Hawkeye here. Got a villain wrapped up and it's not even Christmas yet. The store even used holiday- whoa!"

Right at that moment the ground shook and we heard something roar. Turning in the direction of the chaos my jaw dropped as we saw a kaiju-size Unversed appear over the Shibuya skyline. It had a green and red body with purple legs with orange hoof-like appendages on the end. Its horned head looked like it had a square zit in the middle and two giant cannons were mounted on its shoulders.

"Got any popcorn kid? I feel like I stepped into a giant monster movie." Hawkeye said before reaching for his comm. "Tony? Tony, do you copy?" When he didn't get an answer he gritted his teeth. "Dammit."

He then took off in the direction of the Unversed. I moved to follow him, but stopped to turn back to Crimson Cowl. "Don't move a muscle."

All I could do was hope that was as funny as I thought it was.

As I followed Hawkeye through the city he contacted his team. "Avengers assemble. We've got a giant mechanical monster on the loose in Japan of all places." When he was done contacting the rest of the Avengers he fired another of his arrows at one of the buildings, and used it as a grappling hook to get up high. The next thing I knew I was following him up the building like I was breaking the laws of physics.

Once we got up to the roof, I noticed Iron Man looked pretty beat up as he flew over to where we were. Thor helped Captain America get up to the roof while Black Widow managed on her own. "Tony, what happened?"

"We beat Ultron." The armored billionaire answered, "He was spilling the beans on who brought him back, something called the Cabal. But then we were ambushed by M.O.D.O.C. and A.I.M. scientists, and then Jason had Mortem create that thing."

My jaw dropped. "Jason had Mortem make an Unversed?"

"Uh, mind sharing with the rest of us what an Unversed is?" Hawkeye scratched his head.

"They're monsters created from negative emotions." I summarized. "For months my cousin and I have had to face them whenever we faced Mortem. But that's the biggest one I've ever seen, and I've seen some pretty big Unversed."

"Your friend has the power to create these monsters?" Thor frowned at me, and I felt intimidated by his glare.

Holding my hands up in a mini surrender, I explained, "We're not on each other's friend lists."

"Guys, this isn't resolving the fact that a giant demon is currently laying waste to Shibuya." Black Widow brought us back to the present matter. Turning I saw the huge Unversed had begun to wander off, demolishing buildings in its path. I could hear sirens through the city and screams of people trying to get away. Reminded me so much of when the first kaiju awakened over nine decades ago.

It changed everything for Harthyn.

With a nod, Hawkeye said, "Well, it's not like that thing has the Tesseract."

"Actually, before M.O.D.O.C. could get away that thing swallowed the cube." Iron Man gave the bad news to the team. "So we need to get it back while trying to evacuate the city."

I then stepped forward. "Let me do that. I'll get the cube back."

Shaking his head, Iron Man began, "Kid I know you want to help, but I think you and your companions have done enough damage."

"No, you're not blaming me, my cousin, or our foe for this." I snapped. "We didn't choose to come here and blow stuff up, and now is not the time to be playing the blame game. We've got an emergency on our hands and we need to help!"

Iron Man was about to say something when his co-leader stepped in. "She's right. Standing around arguing isn't going to solve this problem. We need to get the people down there out of harm's way, but we also need to get the Tesseract back."

"I'll go." Thor said. "I've faced beasts this size before, and this one will fall like all the others."

"I'll help." I insisted. "I need a way up anyway." With that, I pulled out a keychain I got from Aerith in Radiant Garden and equipped it. In a flash my Keyblade changed to one with two orange feathers acting as the hilt while the blade was comprised of four yellow bows that grew larger as they ascended my weapon. The teeth was made of the extended wing of a seagull, and the name came to my mind. _Gull Wing_.

The hammer-wielding Avenger looked at me. "Thou art serious in thine intentions to face this beast with me?"

"Yeah, I am."

That brought a smile to his face. "Then let us vanquish this monster together, brave Clair." As I got on his back, he swung his hammer around before letting it carry the two of us off towards the Unversed. Whoaaa!

As we approached the Unversed it immediately took notice of us. Turning to face us, the large cannons on its back began to glow… oh, no. "Thor!"

"Aye." He said as he paused in midair, spinning the hammer in front of us though I had no idea what good that was going to do. As the Unversed fired its attack on us I braced myself for the end, but I only felt a slight heat. Opening my eyes I saw Thor's move with his hammer had caused the blast to disperse around us, though several buildings were still hit by the attack. This was not going to look good later.

As we descended to the Unversed's body, the two of us were greeted by a very nasty sight. Lots of Unversed manifested on the body. Floods, Scrappers, Bruisers, and lots of others that I had never seen before. As I got off Thor's back, I called my weapon forth. "Thor, feel like destroying some Unversed."

"Aye. I say thee that this is a good day to do battle. Have at thee!" With that he leapt forward and struck down seven bruisers with one swing of his hammer. "Feel the might of Mjölnir!"

Guess that was the name of his hammer. Summoning my Keyblade, I began to go to town with the Unversed.

As the Floods began to swarm at me, a new ability emerged that I did not realize I had. My Keyblade just charged up, and then I tore through the Unversed like they were nothing. It was like I was a streak of light lighting up these dark beasts. All of the different kinds that had manifested were being wiped out by my new move.

So why did I feel like this wasn't going to be something I could call on at will?

After one other dive, I heard laughter from my partner. "You fight well, fair maiden. Let us show these Unversed what happens when thou hast combined thy power with the god of thunder!"

That declaration shocked me, but if it meant that we could get through these things more quickly then I nodded in agreement. "They're in for a world of hurt."

"Verily." As we brought our weapons together I could feel great power coming from Thor's hammer. I could hear thunder rumbling overhead and the sky darkened with the clouds that came. My own magical abilities flared up and for a second I thought I was going to burst. No, come on. Focus on where your Keyblade touches Mjölnir. Yes, my magic was now flowing to where our weapons were connected. Time to release the power. " **Tempest Javelin**!"

With that declaration several bolts of lightning struck our weapons at their tips, and from where our weapons were joined a blinding white beam shot out and hit the Unversed horde on the side of the large one. In addition to wiping out the horde in a single attack we did significant damage to the massive one. Letting out a roar of pain it ended up toppling over on its side, crashing into several buildings. Oh, that was not good.

With a laugh, Thor landed us on the large Unversed. "That was a glorious fight, Clair. One worthy to be sung of in the halls of Valhalla. Truly thou art a warrior worthy of Asgard."

"Thanks." I decided to take his words for a compliment. "Now let's find out where Jason and Mortem are on this thing and end this. Thor? Are you listening?"

While I had been speaking, the god of thunder had gotten a call on his comms from the rest of his team. "What is this? Stark, I say thou art too reliant on thy technologies. Better to trust your eyes and ears."

Before I could ask what was going on my magic sensed something coming from the sea. Turning, I saw what looked like a massive dorsal fin coming towards the city. Then, from the water emerged the owner of the dorsal fin, and oh Gri was that thing terrifying. It was a massive green reptilian monster with three rows of broken dorsal plates all along its back. It stood taller than even Tetsukyo back home, by like a hundred feet at least!

Even Thor's jaw dropped at the sight of it. "Odin's beard! What is that monstrosity?"

"I was kind of hoping you knew." I admitted.

I then gasped as the Unversed shifted and got back to its feet. As the two of us hurried so we wouldn't fall off the side, we watched as the creature turned and faced the incoming kaiju, which gave a roar like it was ordering the Unversed to leave, to which it roared what felt like a challenge. Oh, this city was not going to last.

As Thor got another message on his comm, he said, "Clair, Widow says the creature is called Godzilla, and has requested that I hold it back. Without Hulk we cannot send anyone else into battle."

"Then go." I said. "If these two things clash, it'll be bad. Trust me. I know."

"Then fare thee well, Clair the mage." Spinning his hammer, Thor took off to face the creature called Godzilla while I began running towards the head. I pray that wherever my cousin was on this thing that it wasn't in the area I feared.

As I ran along the creatures back more Floods and Scrappers showed up, and even a Bruiser or two. With a growl I found myself dispatching them much easier than I used to months ago. With my foes falling before me so readily I knew it was only a matter of time before I encountered something that would give me a challenge… what? I was already at the head of the monster without a foe?

What's this? The Unversed is flipping over?! With a cry I tried to hold on but found nothing to grasp with. Summoning my Keyblade, I drove it into the back of the Unversed, praying it would be enough to keep me from plunging to my death. I held on for dear life while the Unversed landed on its cannons while I heard its feet charging up. It could fire from those as well?!

The motion from the attack shook the body of this kaiju-sized Unversed, and… oh no! The vibration ended up shaking my Keyblade loosed from where I jammed it in! Shutting my eyes I began to scream as I started to fall to my doom… wait a moment. I felt something grab the end of my weapon, keeping me from falling to my death. "Gotcha!"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes to see… "Leroy?"

"Hang on." With that he began to crawl further down the head of the Unversed until we finally got to that zit I saw- whoops. It wasn't a zit. It was a window, into the head of the Unversed. That had to be where Jason and Mortem were.

"Hang on, Leroy. I'm going to- whoa!" Before I could finish explaining my plan the Unversed flipped itself over again, causing me to fall flat against the window. I could hear the little red monster laughing at the sight. "Shut up."

Shaking his head, Leroy walked over to the window and headbutted it. As the glass shattered I gave a cry as I fell into what I assumed would be the cockpit for this thing. However, instead of two pilot seats with my cousin and foe tied up I found just the entrance to a long dark tunnel with a faint blue glow in the distance. "Well, this was a little anticlimactic."

"Follow me. I can see where we're going." Leroy then took the lead while I began to reluctantly follow. However with a roar from outside an impact came that caused the two of us to go flying forward into the tunnel. Leroy and I then began to roll over each other as we went plunging into the monster, unable to do anything but go forward until we crashed against something hard.

In addition to my groaning as I took the brunt of the impact, I heard someone scoff at the two of us. "You came in?"

"Mortem." Pushing me away with ease while the Unversed straightened itself out, I saw Leroy hurry over to the dark warrior who was… Gri's beak! He was being held against the wall by red and blue wires that seemed to come from everywhere inside the thing.

Trying not to think too hard about this, I looked at my opponent. "What happened?"

"Well, we were being attacked telepathically by that M.O.D.O.C. moron, so Jason told me to create an Unversed using his darkness. This thing, the Cannon Blaster, is the result of his darkness mingling in with mine. I've got to say Jason's got some pretty dark emotions inside of him."

"Blame his father, my uncle." I said before looking around. There it was. The Tesseract, suspended in the middle of the room with energy flowing from it into the Unversed. This must be what was allowing it to fire such powerful blasts. "Why are you a prisoner if this thing was created from both of your darknesses?"

From where he was, Mortem just gave a shrug. "How should I know? All I can think of is while I show my anger without regret to the worlds your cousin tries to hide his. Something about wanting to be a better person than he was when we first met. Before you ask, I can see into his heart while I'm held against the wall. It's like a bridge has been built that connects the two of us, exposing our darkest secrets to each other."

"Then I'd better cut you down and sever that link you have with my- gah!" I cried out as I was struck in the side by an unseen attack. As I crashed into the opposing wall, I looked up to see what had hit me, and my heart skipped a beat.

Lowering himself from the ceiling was my cousin, but he had changed. His hair had gone silver and his now sunken eyes had a red glow to them. His skin was also unnaturally pale and made me feel like he was losing himself to his anger. The Keyblade which appeared in his hand also looked as if it had gone dark and gritty in its black coloring with red neon edges like something unnatural laid within.

Oh, no. Not this kind of story. No, I couldn't afford to hold back. I knew in my heart that there was only one way to free Jason from his darkness manifested. "I'm sorry Jason." I quickly apologized before manifesting _Gull Wing_ in my hand.

Jason ended up making the first move. Rushing at me, he swung the corrupted Keyblade that created a red wave in the shape of an X that I had to leap over to avoid getting hit. However, that caused me to end up getting close to my cousin who wasted no time slicing me with several slashes of his Keyblade and making me cry out in pain. For a moment, I saw him hesitate and gasp, as if he realized he was doing something he didn't want to. What made me think that was his eyes stopped glowing for a moment. "C-Clair?"

Then the moment was gone and his eyes resumed the dark red glow they had taken. With a roar he rushed at me again, prompting me to dodge. When he came at me again he was stopped as the ground beneath him exploded causing him to flinch back. As he recovered from my Mine Shield spell and I activated my next spell. " **Barrier Surge**!"

As the shield appeared around me I rushed forward to my cousin, hitting him with my protective shield while I also struck with my Keyblade. Eventually he parried my blow and sent me flying backwards with a roar. "Never free! Always a prisoner!"

"Jace?" I asked while the Unversed jerked around making me lose my balance while I could hear roars from outside. As my protective spell faded I gasped upon seeing my cousin rush at me with a Sonic Blade attack. Before I could block him he ended up stabbing me with his attack, making me cry out and drawing blood from where he hit me.

I had to force him off me. " **Faith**!" The powerful spell blasted my cousin off me while hitting him and the inside of the Unversed with columns of light. Hurrying away from my stunned cousin, I took out an elixir and downed its contents. As I felt both my health and my magic return to me I turned to face my cousin and his next attack.

"No son for Dad. Only a tool!" Jason snarled as he appeared right next to me and jabbed me several times with his weapon before kicking me away. "A tool to destroy, to kill, to do what he could never do!" As he prepared to bring his blade down on me the _Gull Wing_ changed in a flash. In a second I found myself blocking my cousin with a pair of bird winged daggers? How were daggers better than what I had before?!

I then sensed the next attack to do from these daggers. " **Transcendance Piercings**!" Just like that I began jabbing Jason repeatedly with my new weapons. Before I knew what was happening I had appeared behind my cousin and had used the move again on him, doing significant damage. Then I was on his left, and then his right repeating the amount of jabs I did before. It was like I was everywhere and yet still in the same place.

With a cry he let out a surge of darkness that sent me flying backwards, crashing into a wall. As I gasped out I felt wires spring out and wrap themselves around me, and to my horror the wall began to pull me inside of it! As I watched Jason said, "Become stronger by taking in new abilities. Become stronger by taking what others have."

"No, Jason, don't! That's not you! This isn't you!" I tried to break free but the wall just kept absorbing me. I kept calling out to my cousin until the wall covered my mouth and then my vision went black. I could feel the darkness seeping into my heart.

I failed.

I would never get back home. I would never see my parents again. Mom… Dad… I'm sorry. I really… no. These aren't my thoughts. I know they love me and I love them. I had to break free of this.

" _You will, and I will help_."

Huh? Who said that?

" _I am Maslih, and you have grown into the champions I have called you and your cousin to be. Now do you have faith to believe that you can still make it home_?"

Things looked pretty hopeless, and I didn't see a way out of this consuming darkness. It was getting hard for me to think. I could see Jason's memories, his abuse from Da… no, Uncle Kendall. I needed a way out, and right now it felt like this Maslih was the only way. So yes I do believe.

The craziest idea came to my head. A series of spells that I would need to perform exactly in order to free myself and everyone. Pulling in all of my magic I then unleashed one of my ultimate spells that I had been keeping in reserve. " **Magic Hour**!" With that I erupted from the wall only to dive again and again to create columns of light that ended up hitting my cousin, but I wasn't done.

As I focused I saw the world around me slow while my eyesight seemed to close in on several key points in the wires holding my cousin and Mortem, which kept reattaching them to the dark warrior no matter how many times Leroy pulled them off. " **Lightning Ray**!" With that I began zipping around, slicing the wires and freeing everyone. I sliced again and again until it was time for my next spell. " **Salvation**!"

As I spun around I shot out several columns of light that hit the insides of the Unversed with a fury I had not known. As I could hear the deafening roars of the monster my daggers changed to a pair of arrowguns that kept up with the avian theme so far. Now it was time for the grand finale of this move. Pointing my weapons at where the Tesseract was, I called out, " **Divine Mark**!" As the light arrows shot out they rammed into the cube with enough force to knock it out while continuing through the Cannon Blaster. With some heavy breaths my weapons reverted back to the Keyblade while I fell to my knees. I did it.

I saved us all.

As my energy returned I ran over to check on Jason. Oh, thank Gri. His hair was brown again and his skin was a healthy color as well. Just enough energy for one last spell. " **Curaga**." Seeing the green glow heal my cousin made me smile as he opened his eyes which were no longer glowing. "Clair? Oh worbazz! Clair! I'm so sorry about-."

"It's okay." As I said that the top of the Unversed was blown off by a strong flame as I was reminded of the danger outside. "But we won't be for much longer."  
"She's right." Mortem managed to force out. "I feel the Cannon Blaster disintegrating. Unless you want to plummet to your deaths I suggest we get the hell out of here!"

Looking around, I saw the Tesseract lying on the floor. Running over to it, I grabbed it and used my recovering magic to pull Jason over to me while Leroy carried Mortem over. Okay, just get us back to the Avengers right now!

As I thought that a cyan mist engulfed us and blacked our vision only for it to light up again and dump us on a street where I saw Cap and Widow motioning for people to keep moving. In the distance I could see the dorsal plates of Godzilla glowing as… Holy Gri! The kaiju breathed a river of fire on the Cannon Blaster, causing it to disintegrate and fade back into the darkness.

The dark warrior cried out in pain as the darkness returned to him, making me feel sorry for him. Given the size this must feel like torture. Meanwhile, seeing its foe vanquished Godzilla let out a triumphant roar into the heavens only to get hit in the side by something I couldn't see. Thor no doubt.

"Are you okay?" Captain America asked us when he noticed us.

With a nod, I said, "We'll be fine."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Iron Man said as he landed. "Jason, what were you thinking? Creating a monster like that? And why didn't you tell us you could do that, Mortem?"

The dark warrior just looked at him. "Never reveal all your secrets in case one you trust betrays you."

"If you need to blame someone, blame me." Jason said. "I told Mortem to use me to create that Unversed. It's my fault."

"You're right. It is your fault. Creating that monster shows poor judgement, so just hand over the Tesseract and I'll let you off with a warning. And I'll do what I can to lighten your sentence with the Japanese government."

The Avengers who were there were shocked. "You're really going to throw these kids in jail, Stark?" Hawkeye asked. "That's low."

"What they did was low. They created a monster, awakened another, caused hundreds of thousands of lives to be lost, not to mention billions of dollars of property damage, and put hundreds in the hospital. Yeah, they need to be held accountable."

"Like you were held accountable for creating Ultron?" Jason frowned at Stark. "We didn't ask for this. I didn't expect an Unversed to be the size of a kaiju."

"This is where you zip it!" Iron Man snapped at him. "I don't know what you're trying to do, but I'm not going to have a loose cannon running around threatening people's lives because he wants to pretend to be something he isn't. I know you want to do the right thing, Jason, and the right thing right now is to turn yourself in and stop pretending to be a hero."

That's when we heard a heavy thud like something had taken a step, followed by another. Oh no. Turning, we looked to see Godzilla coming our way. Oh, there's no doubt about it. He was looking right at us.

"Thor, why haven't you stopped that thing?" Hawkeye asked into his comm.

I couldn't hear the answer, and I didn't want to. I didn't like how Tony treated my cousin after the experience he went through. "After all the trouble to get this stupid cube back, this is how you treat us?" I frowned. "We'll send the cube back after we get home." With that I willed the Tesseract to take us away. The further from Tony Stark, the better.

As the cyan mist engulfed us it then faded to bring us out in some sort of bunker that had a lot of familiar looking weapons. As Jason looked around, he asked me, "Did it work?"

Before I could answer I heard a familiar voice ask, "Jason? Clair?"

"...Johri?" Turning, I saw the friend we had spoken with standing there with an open mouth and shocked expression.

I stood there paused for a moment before I felt tears swell up in my eyes. As I embraced her in a hug I proclaimed, "We did it ! We're back home!"

* * *

 **I'm still not sure if Jason and Tony's argument at the end feels natural or not. I may need to go back and edit it some more.**

 **I've been wanting to do this chapter for a long while now. When I got the idea to do a Marvel universe in my Kingdom Hearts FanFiction I decided I would include Godzilla thanks to the run Marvel comics did a while ago. I will admit I wish I could shown more of the fight between Godzilla and the Cannon Blaster, but oh well.**

 **In case you were wondering how this version of Godzilla looks, I see him as a hybrid of the Marvel comics design, the 90s version, the one from the early 2000s, and the Monsterverse version.**

 **Now it's getting late and I need to get to bed. I hope you enjoyed this.**


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